Beef herd management during the drought and beyond will be discussed at the University of Missouri Thompson Farm field day, in northwestern Grundy County on September 18th.


The annual event starts at 9 a.m. with talks on cow herd nutrition and pasture management as a result of the extreme drought, says Rodney Geisert, superintendent and MU animal scientist.

Justin Sexten, MU Extension beef nutrition specialist, will tell the feeding challenges of the 2012 drought. Rob Kallenbach, MU Extension forage specialist, will give pasture management tips.

A panel on reproduction will follow with tips from Scott Poock, DVM, from the MU College of Veterinary Medicine; and Mike Smith and Dave Patterson from the MU Division of Animal Sciences.

After a break, Scott Brown, MU livestock economist, will describe profit potential from producing high-quality beef. Mike Kasten, director of the MU Quality Beef program, will tell of the new beef marketing effort.

The Thompson Farm beef herd has attained national attention for producing calves with high percentages of USDA prime quality grade beef.

Lunch and tours of exhibits will be at noon. Farm tours will be held in the afternoon. A tour of the beef herd will be led by Dave Patterson, reproduction specialist. His research at the farm developed protocols for breeding a cow herd in one day with timed artificial insemination. He and MU graduate student Neal Martin will give updates on their research.

The other tour features forestry and wildlife habitat on the farm and will be led by Hank Stelzer, MU Extension forester, and Ray Wright, MU wildlife research specialist.

Tours will end by 2 p.m. The farm is located seven miles west of Spickard, at the end of Highway C. Visitors can also reach the farm off of Highway A from Highway 136 from the north in Mercer County or from the south from Trenton on Highway A off of Highway 65.

The farm is part of the Agricultural Experiment Station of the MU College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources.