By Joe Sellers
By moving the date and location of the annual Iowa Forage and Grassland Council Conference, the IFGC board of directors hopes to provide attendees with more opportunity for grazing and forage discussions. The event is set for Jan. 21-22 at the Iowa State University Alumni Center, just south of Stephens Auditorium at the Iowa State Center in Ames. Registration begins at noon with the first session at 12:30 p.m. on Jan. 21, and adjourns at 11:30 a.m. on Jan. 22. The Practical Farmers of Iowa conference immediately follows, starting at noon.
ISU Extension and Outreach beef specialist Joe Sellers said IFGC is partnering with PFI to offer a full slate of producer and industry expert speakers on a variety of topics at the conference.
"The first day features five informational sessions, a producer panel on grazing cover crops and a discussion of current feed and forage topics," he said. "The second day includes two sessions and a contract grazing producer panel, as well as the IFGC annual meeting and award recognition."
Conference sessions, topics and speakers
Jan. 21
- "Land Use Decisions with Marginal Farm Ground" Sellers, ISU; Brian Peterson, chair of the Southern Iowa Forage and Livestock Committee
- "Results of my SARE producer grazing project" Jeff Liston, Turtle Creek Angus, Lovilia
- "Report on Brazilian Beef Production" Erika Lundy and Dan Loy, Iowa Beef Center, ISU; Dave Miller, IFBF
- "Management to Improve Pasture Plant Diversity and Production" Bruce Anderson, forage specialist
- "Implications of Grazing Management on Soil Health and Environmental Quality" Jim Russell, ISU
- Break and catered dinner
- "Producer Panel on grazing cover crops"
- "Discussion of current beef and forage topics: Leopold Cow Systems Project, CRP changes, Grassland easements, Managing Fescue"
Jan. 22
- Registration, coffee and pastries
- IFGC annual meeting and awards
- "Management to Establish and Maintain Alfalfa" Bruce Anderson, forage specialist
- "Stockpiling forages, strategic supplementation" Jim Elizondo, grazing consultant
- "Producer panel on contract grazing"
- Adjournment
Conference registration
"Thanks to support from the North Central Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program, the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture, the Iowa Beef Center and many forage partners of IFGC, the cost to attend is low," Sellers said. "To attend both days of the IFGC conference or the PFI conference, members pay just $40 in advance or $50 at the door. Non-members pay $60 or $70 respectively."
Single day rates for members are $25 in advance or $35 at the door, with non-members paying $35 in advance or $45 at the door. The 2016 IFGC dues (year runs from Jan.1 to Dec. 31) are $35 for producers and the public, and $90 for industry, and can be paid on the registration form, he said.
Source:.iastate.edu