Had a great time at the New York Beef Producers’ Association‘s (“NYBPA”) annual meeting in Syracuse, New York.  It was so wonderful to meet several cattle producers here in this beautiful state and I look forward to making some farm visits this spring and summer.  I was overwhelmed by the welcoming spirit of New York cattle producers.  It’s part of what I love most about the agriculture industry:  no matter where you decide to hang your hat, there are always farmers and ranchers who will welcome other fellow agriculturalists.

It was a pleasure to finally meet Rich Brown in person.  Rich is the President of the NYBPA and we have been in coorespondence about the new NYBPA Legislative Committeee.  I am very excited about getting involved with policy issues here in New York State that affect agriculture producers, particularly cattlemen and women.

There was several great speakers discussing hot topics in the cattle industry.  It was especially interesting to hear about the latest research with genetic DNA marbling markers.  When I was in graduate school, there were only about 9 genes that were identifed as influencing genetic aptancy for marbling.  Now there are thousands and new genetic tests for feed efficiency, fertility traits, and other carcases characteristics.  Even though my thesis work was several years ago, I still believe that genetic DNA markers only tell a snapshot of the entire story and that cattle producers can more greatly affect marbing by nutrition and management.

I particularly enjoyed the presentation given by Kathy Finnerty regarding livestock welfare issues.  It complemented my talk, blog posts and article about livestock animal welfare laws in New York.  Kathy gave a general overview of federal animal welfare laws and spoke about the New York State Cattle Health Insurance Program (“NYSCHAP”).  For more information on NYSCHAP,  you can contact Kathy at kdfz@cornell.edu.

It was also wonderful to participate in the New York Simmental Association‘s (“NYSA”) annual meeting.  For those of you that know me, you that the Simmental cattle breed is very near to my heart.  NYSA has some great fundraisers planned for this next year to help raise money for its junior program.  I am now a Director for the NYSA and am looking forward to getting involved however I can.  It would be great for an American Junior Simmental Association (“AJSA”) regional to be back in New York State.  Next summer’s Eastern Simmental Regional is in Meadville, PA.

If you are a New York beef producer and were unable to attend this year, I would definitely put it on your calendar for next year.  It was a lot of fun meeting cattle industry folks from the Empire State and I look forward to representing New York next week at the Annual National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (“NCBA”) Convention and Trade Show in San Anton’.

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.