Missouri Livestock Symposium

The 2012 Missouri LivestockSymposium features something for everyone, according to Garry Mathes, Symposium chair. This year’s Symposium will be held December 7 & 8 at the Kirksville Middle School, 1515 S. Cottage Grove in Kirksville, MO. There is no cost to attend and no registration is required. “Just show up and take advantage of everything the Symposium committee has put together for you,” says Mathes. Symposium hours will be from 4 to 10 p.m. on Friday, December 7 and from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. on Saturday, December 8.

The Missouri Livestock Symposium will feature nationally known speakers on horses, beef cattle, sheep, meat goats, forages and stock dogs. There will even be speakers on timely topics of interest to all homeowners and landowners like “What’s Killing My Trees” and “Farm Continuation and Farm Estate Strategies.”

The Missouri Livestock Symposium takes great pride in providing producers with top-notch science based information on current topics and concerns that allow them to make the best financial decisions possible in their operations. In the beef cattle section the program will concentrate on management strategies related to drought, including climate information, stretching forages, feed costs and market outlook.  A special part of this year’s Symposium will be important information on cattle pinkeye.  The beef section program will also cover a new program titled “Quality Beef by the Numbers,” a program designed to advance the beef industry and provide producers various options that may increase their profitability and knowledge of different aspects of the beef industry.

The Horse Section will feature two talks designed to help both the novice and the most experienced horse owners. The horse section also includes a talk on color genetics in horses.

The sheep and meat goat sections this year feature talks on “Can Selection Reduce Disease?” “Selecting Ewes That Reduce Labor,”  “Why Hairsheep are Becoming Popular” and “The Sheep Economy.”

In the meat goat section, topics include raising goats, feeding meat goats and benefits of crossbreeding goats and goat health and herd management.

The 2012 Missouri Livestock Symposium will once again feature an agriculturally-related trade show and a Classic Tractor Contest with the top 5 tractors on display at the Symposium.

A free beef supper will be at 6 p.m. on Friday, December 7 and a free Governor’s Style Luncheon on Saturday at noon. Mathes says, “if there’s a better deal anywhere we would like to know about it!”

Additional information about the program, speakers and trade show can be found at missourilivestock.com or email Bruce Lane at (please put MLS in the subject line). You can also call Bruce Lane at 660-665-9866 or Garry Mathes at 660-341-6625.