The 31st annual Northwest Florida Beef Conference was one of the best in the long history of this event. 175 people attended the event this year that featured seven presentations and a trade show of 28 companies and organizations that provide products and services to the cattle industry in the Southeast.
The focus of the Beef Conference held on Wednesday, February 10, 2016 was Profitable Ranching in a Declining Market. Each speaker provided ideas on how to either add income or improve the efficiency of a cattle operation. Many of the people who attended asked about copies of the presentations. The following recap will not only provide an overview of what was discussed, but also links to download PDF versions of the actual speaker presentations.
Market Outlook & Cow-Calf Budgeting tool
Chris Prevatt, Regional Beef and Forage Economics Agent was not able to attend the conference in person, but did provide a video that provided both a current market outlook and a budgeting spreadsheet that he and others have developed to help ranchers develop a detailed budget for their individual operations. Because he created a video of Chris’ 30 minute presentation, you can watch it using the following video viewer. The first 15 minutes is Chris best estimates for what Florida Ranchers can expect for prices in 2016 and in the final half of the video he guides viewers through each part of the budgeting tool.
Use the following link to download his presentation:
Prevatt Market Outtlook & Cow-calf Budget
If you want to share this video it can be found at Chris’ “Prevatt Economics” YouTube site:
https://youtu.be/_uia_Z4kov8
He also has a video that is a 23 minute webinar recording that solely focuses in on the Cow-calf Budget spreadsheetl:
https://youtu.be/5hegPcWv_g4
Adding Value to Your Calf-crop
Dr. Larry Corah, Former V.P. of Certified Angus Beef was the keynote speaker. He is a fantastic teacher, and he shared the three most important factors that determine the value of calves sold: quality grade, growth, and health. His presentation provided some hard numbers that showed why these three factors are so critical for setting the ultimate value of a set of calves that are sold. Armed with this knowledge ranchers can work on developing the genetic base in their herd to provide the type of calves that top the market each year.
Use the following link to download his presentation:
Corah Trends in the Beef Market
Building Herd Performance
Kalyn Waters, Holmes County Extension Director discussed managing for more efficiency by improving herd performance. She targeted three main areas of herd management: body condition scoring as a management tool for nutrition, use of a defined breeding season and estrous synchronization to manage reproduction, and improving herd genetics through culling strategies and development of replacement heifers.
Use the following link to download her presentation:
Waters Building Herd Performance
Factors that Affect Forage Quality
Dr. Jose Dubeux, UF/IFAS Forage Management Specialist provided information on how to manage forages to harvest them at the highest quality either with grazing or hay equipment. He shared the main areas of concern: the species of forage, maturity and increasing fiber levels over time, animal intake, and management of stored forages.
Use the following link to download his presentation:
Dubeux Forage Quality
Feeding Based on a Forage Test
Mark Mauldin, Washington County Agriculture Agent shared how winter feeding can be more efficient with some key information: nutrient requirements of different classes of cattle, hay bale weight, forage analysis, and supplementation to fill the gaps not met by the base forage. Like many other phases of herd management, with more information ranchers can more precisely plan their winter feeding program.
Use the following link to download his presentation:
Mauldin Feeding Based on a Forage Test
NFREC Beef & Forage Update
Darren Henry, UF PhD student shared a brief overview of current research trials underway at the North Florida Research and Education Center’s Beef Research Unit.
Use the following link to download his presentation:
NFREC Beef & Forage Research Report
Trade Show Exhibitors
There were 28 companies and organizations that provide products and services to ranchers in the Southeast that also participated in the Beef Conference Trade Show and provided the major sponsorship for the event.
Special thanks to the Jackson County Cattlemen’s Association
[important]Mark your calendars and plan to attend the 32nd annual Northwest Florida Beef Conference & Trade Show to be held on Wednesday, February 8, 2017 at the Jackson County Extension Office in Marianna, FL.[/important]
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