Illinois Beef Expo kicks off Thursday, February 19

Feb 18, 2015

Will continue until Sunday, February 22

Remember when that old woman from the fast food commercial asked where the beef was?

Well, from Thursday, February 19 to Sunday February 22, the beef will be at the Illinois Beef Expo, taking place at the Illinois State Fairgrounds in Springfield, Illinois.

The four-day event will feature different kinds of cattle up for sale, a meeting of the Illinois Angus Association and a junior beef skillathon event that will challenge the young minds of tomorrow’s cattle producers.

Vendors from various companies including Big Bend Livestock Solutions, Merck Animal Health, Stone’s Cutting Edge and Images Embroidery will be on hand to provide visitors with the latest and newest technologies and supplies aimed at cattlemen.

Among the scheduled events will be the Junior Show, where participants between the ages of 8 and 21 can strut their stuff.

For the 2015 edition of the Junior Show, rule changes have been put in place, including:

The show is only open to heifers born after September 1, 2013 or steers born after January 1, 2014.
All ear tags except EIDs will be removed from the animals upon check-in.
When it comes to heifers, original registration papers are required on all of them, except those for commercial breeding and market heifers. Copies, faxes and electronic registrations will not be accepted.
When speaking of stalling, no junior show cattle are allowed on the fairgrounds before 5 p.m. on Thursday, February 19. No stalls are to be reserved for Junior Show cattle, except by Expo Management, and no stall set up can begin until 5 p.m. on Thursday.

There are plenty of farm shows throughout the year so be sure to check out Farms.com’s farm shows calendar to see what shows are on the horizon.

Illinois Beef Expo

Video: Dr. David Rosero: Fat Quality in Swine Diets

In this episode of The Swine Nutrition Blackbelt Podcast, Dr. David Rosero from Iowa State University explores the critical aspects of fat quality and oxidation in swine diets. He discusses how different types of lipids affect pig performance and provides actionable insights on managing lipid oxidation in feed mills. Don’t miss this episode—available on all major platforms.

Highlight quote: "Increasing levels of oxidized fats in swine diets reduced the efficiency of feed utilization, increased mortality, and led to more pigs being classified as culls, reducing the number of full-value pigs entering the finishing barns."

Meet the guest: Dr. David Rosero / davidrosero is an assistant professor of animal science at Iowa State University. His research program focuses on conducting applied research on swine nutrition and the practical application of smart farming. He previously served as the technical officer for The Hanor Company, overseeing nutrition, research, and innovation efforts.