FEATURE
K C A V I R T UA L C O N V E N T I O N A S U C C E S S COVID-19 has affected all of us over the past year and it was no exception for the KCA Convention. Cattlemen weren’t able to gather this year, but many of the great programs and information were brought to our members via a virtual conference. There was a great lineup of speakers and hundreds of producers from across the state took part in the virtual event from the comforts of their own homes. The convention was switched to virtual in mid-December and registration opened right before Christmas. A drawing was held for everyone who registered by Friday, January 8. Congratulations to Kate Adams, Lincoln Pyles, and Sam Boone for winning the pre-registration prize of $100. A winner was also drawn at the end of each of the three sessions and the winners were Fred Thomas,
Nancy Kloentrup and Amy Cox. A special thanks to all of our sponsors for this year’s convention. The support of each of these companies was important to making the event happen. A complete list of sponsors is on page ??. If you missed the live sessions from convention you can still watch them. All three days of the convention are available via video through the KCA YouTube channel or can be found on our website or social media pages. BEEF EFFICIENCY CONFERENCE Over 211 producers attended the 8th Annual Beef Efficiency Conference hosted by Kentucky Beef Network and University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service. The topic of this session was “Designing Beef Production
Programs for the Consumer”. An impressive list of guest speakers included Shawn Darcy from the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association who gave an overview of consumer surveys and perceptions titled “Consumers: What they say they need, and they want”. This was followed up with Dr. Chad Carr from the University of Florida who discussed beef quality and opportunities for selling meat direct from the farm, titled “Challenges and Opportunities with Regional Fed Beef Merchandising”. The final speaker for the evening was Dr. Nevil Speer who discussed past consumer trends and what to expect going forward with his presentation, “Beef Consumers: Looking Back and Looking Ahead”.
FORAGES The Kentucky Forage and Grasslands Council also held the Annual Forages at KCA Program virtually this year. This year the Program was “Improving Hay Quality in Kentucky”. The meeting was attended by 206 producers and started with a presentation by Dr. Chris Teutsch, UK, on “Hay Quality in Kentucky…A Historical Perspective”. This was followed by Dr. Jeff Lehmkuhler, UK, “You Have Got a Hay Test, Now What”. Dr. Dennis Hancock, USDA Dairy Forage Research Center, discussed “Practical Considerations for Making High Quality Baleage”. The final speaker for the night was Dr. Jimmy Henning, UK, whose topic was “Practical Approaches to Improving Hay Quality in the Commonwealth”. There were lots of questions asked
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COW COUNTRY •
FEBRUARY 2021
• A P U B L I C AT I O N O F T H E K E N T U C K Y C AT T L E M E N ’ S A S S O C I AT I O N
