Pennsylvania Ag Connection - Stockman Show 2.0 March 24 and 25

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Stockman Show 2.0 March 24 and 25
Pennsylvania Ag Connection - 02/23/2017

The Pennsylvania Beef Quality Assurance (BQA) program and The Pennsylvania Beef Council (PBC) funded through checkoff dollars and industry support, is hosting a stockmanship training seminar series in Lancaster and Mercer counties.

On March 24, producers are invited to attend a dairy focused cattle handling training program at Star Rock Farms, Conestoga. Registration will begin at 9 a.m. for this event and will run through 2:30 p.m. with lunch included. The PBC is proud to be partnering with the Center for Dairy Excellence (CDE) to host this event.

On March 25, producers are invited to attend a session on beef cattle handling at the farm of John and Judy Ligo, Grove City. Event registration will begin at 9:30 a.m. and run through 1:30 p.m. with lunch included.

These live cattle handling demonstrations are a follow-up to the very popular BQA Roadshow that was hosted by the Pennsylvania Beef Council in the fall 2016. Producers had the opportunity to learn from world renowned animal handling expert Dr. Don Höglund, veterinarian and educator with the Livestock Trust Institute, in the classroom setting and unanimously confirmed that they wished to see him work with live cattle. Dr. Höglund specializes in behavior observation of animals and how live animals react to human behaviors and motions. The workshop event will allow for some audience members participation to work in small group settings with Dr. Höglund directly. These events are intended to help farm managers improve their stockmanship skills and for producers to be introduced to low-energy cow handling techniques to improve the outcome for both people and cattle.

In addition to Dr. Höglund's presentation, producers who attend the program on Friday, March 24th will have the opportunity to hear from Emily Yeiser Stepp, director of the National FARM program with National Milk Producers Federation. Yeiser Stepp will provide a brief update on animal welfare issues in the dairy and beef industries and then delve deeper into the FARM Animal Care Version 3.0 evaluation. She will clarify high priority areas and what expectations dairy farmers can have for the evaluation on their farm. Dairy farmers will be able to ask questions about their current animal care protocols during the informal workshop. Farmers attending the session can expect to walk away with a comprehensive understanding of what the FARM Animal Care evaluation entails and numerous resources that will assist in preparing for their evaluation. Attendees are invited to bring their current written protocols to review and update based on the discussion.

Attendees should please the registration online located at www.pa-bqa.org or by contacting Courtney Cowden, PBC, ccowden@pabeef.org or via phone at 814-623-2698.

To learn more about the Pennsylvania Beef Council, visit www.pabeef.org. For more information about BQA program, visit www.pa-bqa.org.

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