To help Iowa cattlemen and women prepare for a successful calving season and subsequent breeding period, Iowa Beef Center has scheduled two Advanced Calving Clinics for January 13, 2025. Session topics cover essentials from conception to calving, including nutrition basics during gestation and early lactation, assisting at calving, colostrum management, baby calf health and care, and decisions based on calving data.

The 2025 Driftless Region Beef Conference continues its longstanding tradition of providing educational sessions for beef producers in that region. Offered cooperatively by the university extension services in Illinois, Iowa, and Wisconsin, the 13th annual event will be held Jan. 23-24 at the Grand River Convention Center in Dubuque.

Iowa crop and livestock farmers and agricultural landowners are asked to complete an online survey on CRP and marginal lands. The survey is being conducted by the World Wildlife Fund with support from the Iowa Cattlemen’s Association Cow-Calf Council. Responses will be used to develop recommendations for USDA to enhance programmatic support for the development of grasslands and pasture with livestock integration. All responses are anonymous. Deadline to respond is Friday, Jan. 10, 2025. Complete the Optimizing the Productivity and Health of Marginal Lands Survey.

What will ag markets and profitability look like the next 18 months? That is the question Chad Hart, nationally recognized market economist with Iowa State University, will address at Feedlot Forum 2025 on Jan. 14.

There is a lot of financial risk in feeding cattle – high-priced feeder cattle, variable interest rates, and volatility in market animal price. Iowa State University extension beef specialist Beth Doran said Feedlot Forum 2025 speaker Zach Tindall will share information on two USDA risk management tools: Livestock Risk Protection and Livestock Gross Margin.

The Three-State Beef Conference, set for Jan. 14-16, 2025, provides beef cattle producers and others in the beef industry with a regular update on current cow-calf and stocker topics. Iowa State University extension beef specialists Erika Lundy-Woolfolk and Chris Clark are Iowa organizers of the annual event, and say the content is based on prior attendee feedback and current industry economic conditions.

The Cornbelt Cow-Calf Conference (CCCC), Iowa’s premier educational event for Iowa’s cow-calf sector is gearing up for its 53rd year, and the program set for Jan. 25, 2025, will certainly continue that tradition. The Bridge View Center in Ottumwa will host the event, and admission will continue to be free thanks to trade show vendors that will fill the exhibit hall.

Beef producers are invited to attend the next All Things Beef winter workshop on Dec. 18 in Marshalltown to learn about recent regulatory updates and winter beef cow nutrition. Chris Clark, Iowa State University extension beef specialist, said this session will include information on some relatively new regulations regarding animal identification and implants.

Do heavier cattle weights increase feedlot profit? Dr. Grant Crawford, associate director of cattle technical services with Merck Animal Health, will address this topic at Feedlot Forum 2025 on January 14 in Sioux Center. Registration is due Jan. 6.

Dairy-beef crossbreds are gaining in popularity, yet some producers are unsure how that might work in their herds. Garland Dahlke, research scientist with the Iowa Beef Center, will present research he conducted the past 18 months examining the nutrition, health, and performance of dairy crossbred calves. His presentation is one of five at Feedlot Forum 2025 on January 14 in Sioux Center.

High-priced feeder cattle, inflation, volatile markets, and weather have pressured the bottom line for cattle feeders. Beth Doran, beef specialist for Iowa State University Extension and Outreach, said these pressures and methods of coping are the focus of this year’s Feedlot Forum 2025.

With the national beef cow herd at record low numbers and fed cattle numbers still decreasing, marketing and the future of the cow herd expansion is the timely focus of the 13th annual Driftless Region Beef Conference. It will be held Jan. 23-24, 2025, at the Grand River Convention Center in Dubuque.

With the fall run in full swing, cattle producers want to make sure their spring-born calves have a good start in the feedyard. A new program offered by Iowa Beef Center will help cattle feeders and stakeholders prioritize herd health and ease stress on individual animals. Cattle Feeders Day is set for December 10 at the ISU Armstrong Research Farm/Wallace Learning Center, 53020 Hitchcock Ave., Lewis.

Building on the success of the first Genetic Symposium that was centered on the bull, Iowa Beef Center has refocused the 2024 event on the female and improving reproduction. Iowa State University extension cow-calf specialist Randie Culbertson said reproduction is the most economically significant trait of a cow-calf operation.

Iowa State University Extension and Outreach will host four year-end BQA certification trainings in northwest Iowa. These trainings feature significant changes in the beef industry and best management practices to provide  sustainable, high-quality beef to consumers, and ISU extension beef specialist Beth Doran said new developments such as EID traceability, biosecurity, and animal health will be featured.

Frost is one of the primary environmental factors that can lead to increased prussic acid content in sorghum species, forage sorghum, sorghum x sudangrass, and sudangrass. If livestock consume forage with elevated levels of prussic acid, it can result in acute toxicity, leading to symptoms such as muscle twitching, staggering, and even death within minutes.

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