I am looking forward to the upcoming New York Beef Producers’ Association (“NYBPA”) Annual Meeting & Feeder/Winter Mangement Conference January 22-24th at the Holiday Inn (Carrier Circle) in Syracuse, New York.  If you’ve been following this blog, I certainly don’t hide the fact that I’m very passionate about the beef business.  I am looking forward to meeting more New York beef producers this Friday-Saturday.

From looking at the itenerary, it should be a great conference.  You can download the full schedule here.  The following are some of the topics and speakers that I found particularly interesting:

1.  Dr. Mike Baker from Cornell University will be speaking on diet formulation in natural feeding programs;

2.  Dr. Brad Huffines will be discussing fermentable fiber;

3. Dr. Gary Smith from Colorado State University (“CSU”) will be evaluating meat quality distinctions between grass fed and natural feeding programs and Beef Quality Assurance (“BQA”);

4.  Dr. Alison Van Eenennam from the University of California -Davis will be talking about the economics of using DNA markers for feedlot cattle (a special interest of mine since I did my masters thesis on this topic);

5.  Dr. John Pollak from USDA Meat Animal Research Center (“MARC”) will be updating New York producers on the National Beef Cattle Evaluation Consortium;

6.  Dr. Ken Prusser from the New York Wildlife Services (“WS”) will be discussing damage in feeding areas; and

7.  Dr. Mary Smith from Cornell University will be discussion the use of Metaphlaxis.

On Saturday, there will be an awards banquet and the New York Simmental Association will be having its annual meeting.  I will also be meeting with a few cattle producers who have expressed interest in a legislative committee.

It’s not too late to register!  You can download the form here.  If you cannot make it, you can follow my tweets from the conference.