Feedback Sought on New Resource for New and Beginning Farmers at 2024 GLEXPO

Dec 04, 2024

By Jonathan LaPorte

Running a farm business involves passion, vision and drive to be successful. These qualities are especially important for new or beginning farm managers as they face a number of challenges early in their careers. Common challenges include knowledge of production, finding land and financing. Recognizing the significance of these challenges, Michigan State University Extension and USDA are working on a joint resource and need your input on its creation.

At the 2024 Great Lakes Expo (GLEXPO), MSU Extension and USDA will be holding a feedback session on the Beginning Farmer Resource and Decision-Making Guide. The Guide is being created to provide a pathway to all the resources a new farmer or decision maker may need to get started and support their production journey. Starting with production in mind, resources will include direction to education and decision-making tools and how to connect with agricultural partners.

The feedback session will be held from 2 p.m. – 4 p.m. on Tuesday, December 10. In the session, the developers of the guide will be looking for your input to help ensure it meets your needs. They’ll also be sharing the guide design, what's currently included, how to use it and where you’ll be able to access the guide once completed.

The session will start with a presentation followed by a sneak preview of example content. Attendees will have the ability to explore these examples and provide feedback via a Qualtrics survey. Members of the development team will also be on hand to answer questions and capture any suggestions from attendees. The presentation will be repeated at 3 p.m. to accommodate attendees who may be taking in other educational sessions at the conference.

Source : msu.edu

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.