Writer: Kay Ledbetter, 806-677-5608, skledbetter@ag.tamu.edu
Contact: Dr. Ellen Jordan, 972-952-9212, e-jordan@tamu.edu
LUBBOCK – The High Plains Dairy Conference will bring experts from across the country to address topics specific to the region March 5-6 at The Overton Hotel and Conference Center, 2322 Mac Davis Lane, Lubbock.
“The High Plains dairy industry has unique needs created by dairy size, location and complexity,” said Dr. Ellen Jordan, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service dairy specialist in Dallas and conference coordinator. “This conference was designed to address specific issues from animal welfare to adopting new technology to labor and management.”
The conference will begin with registration each day at 6:30 a.m. with the seminars starting at 8 a.m. The conference fee is $225 for the first registrant and $175 for each additional participant from the same dairy, if postmarked by Feb. 1. After Feb. 1, it is $250 for everyone.
Online registration is available at http://www.highplainsdairy.org . Those who print and mail the registration form should send it to: High Plains Dairy Conference, Attn: Charlotte Bruna, 244 Cyclone Lane, Waterville, KS 66548, or fax to 785-532-2333. Checks should be made payable to: Texas Animal Nutrition Council. Credit card payments will be accepted with online registration or onsite only.
The fee includes two continental breakfasts, one lunch, an evening reception and a copy of the conference proceedings, Jordan said. Additional copies of the proceedings may be purchased for $25 each.
Topics of discussion will be:
– Implications of groundwater minerals in dairy cattle nutrition.
– Feeding calves for performance.
– Using technology to improve calf raising.
– Mastitis in the vital 90 days…what’s the real cost?
– TCI – An objective way to benchmark and monitor the effectiveness of your transition management program.
– Is shrink robbing your operation of profits?
– Micromachines on dairies – do they have a place?
– Managing stress, anger, anxiety and depression on dairy farms.
– Dairy outlook and the importance of trade.
– Precision dairy monitoring technology opportunities and challenges.
– Lameness and leg injuries in open lot dairies in the Southwestern U.S.
– Food morality movement.
A panel discussion will cover managing water resources, and shorter discussions will cover LED lighting; farm bill dairy decision aid; economic impacts of employee turnover; diagnostic and heat stress “apps,” and an update on human resources training and safety programs.
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via AgriLife Today High Plains Dairy Conference set for March 5-6 in Lubbock