TOPEKA, Kan. — Options for controlling invasive trees and plants on grazing lands will highlight the educational program at the August 16 Kansas Livestock Association (KLA)/Kansas State University Ranch Management Field Day in Linn County. Loma Land & Cattle, located near La Cygne and owned by the Robert Thayer family, will host the event. The third-generation ranch includes a cow-calf operation and backgrounding business.
The Thayers, like many other eastern Kanas producers, maintain their cowherd on fescue and native grass pastures year-round, making management of invasive plant species extremely important. A panel will discuss what makes controlling these plants a challenge and provide options to lessen the burden. Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Rangeland Management Specialist Dane Varney will give tips on the best way to control invasive trees and explain NRCS cost-share programs available to producers. K-State Range Management Specialist Walt Fick, who has conducted extensive research on herbicides for controlling invasive plants in grasslands, including sericea lespedeza and old world bluestem, will discuss his findings. Rancher Greg Christiansen from Parker will round out the panel by sharing his experiences with the intensive grazing of goats as an economical means for controlling unwanted plants in fescue and native grass.
Recent media coverage of developing technology to produce lab-grown meat has raised concern in the beef industry about the future of “fake meat.” National Cattlemen’s Beef Association Director of Government Affairs Danielle Beck will talk about the politics of this issue and the battle over which federal agency should regulate fake meat products.
Agra View’s Amy Roeder and Steve Vollrath will share timely information about programs available to livestock producers through the USDA Risk Management Agency. Options discussed will include the Livestock Risk Protection Program, Livestock Gross Margin Program and Rainfall Index Program, which protects against the loss of precipitation in key months of pasture, rangeland and forage growth.
KLA Chief Executive Officer Matt Teagarden will provide an overview of the state’s new cattle traceability pilot project. KLA, K-State and the Kansas Department of Agriculture launched CattleTrace June 30. The project will involve an end-to-end disease traceability system beginning with cow-calf producers and ending at the beef processing plant. The goal is to develop a system that can operate at the speed of commerce.
In addition, K-State Extension Livestock Specialist Jaymelynn Farney will be on hand to discuss options for cover crops and summer annuals for livestock forage. She will display numerous samples of cover crops used by Kansas ranchers to provide feed for their cattle on an annual basis.
The August 16 field day will begin with registration at 3:00 p.m. and conclude with a free beef dinner at 6:45 p.m. All livestock producers and others involved in the business are invited to attend.
Loma Land & Cattle is located south of La Cygne in northeastern Linn County. From Highway 7, go east on Highway 152 6 1/2 miles to 1095 Road. (Highway 152 will jog one mile to the north.) Go South 3 ½ miles on 1095 Road to 1850 Road. Turn east on 1850 Road and travel 1 ½ miles to Quarterman Road. If traveling from Highway 69, go west through La Cygne on Highway 152 6.3 miles to 1095 Road, then follow the directions listed above. Directional signs will be posted.
Russell and C.J. Blew will host the August 6 KLA/K-State ranch field day near Medicine Lodge. Remington Ranch at Quinter will be the site for the August 13 field day. Bayer Animal Health and the Farm Credit Associations of Kansas are sponsoring all three field days. For more information or directions, go to www.kla.org or call the KLA office at (785) 273-5115.
KLA is a trade organization representing the business interests of independent livestock producers at the state and national levels. Members of the association are involved in all segments of the industry, including cow-calf production, backgrounding, cattle feeding, swine, dairy and sheep.
— Kansas Livestock Association
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