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Field Days

Cow/Calf Schools

Beef and Forage Symposium

Saskatchewan Pasture School

Trade Shows, etc. Cost of Production Workshop


Field Days

Field Days are held annually at the Termuende Research Ranch near Lanigan, SK, one in the winter and one in the summer. These field days provide producers, researchers and clients with the opportunity to see the centre’s activities first hand. The days consist of guest speakers, technical presentations, and field tours.

2010 Summer Field Day

 

Our next Summer Field Day scheduled for Tuesday, June 22, 2010. (Rain or Shine, the Field Day will proceed.) An agenda will follow closer to the date.






2009 Winter Field Day

After a few nice days in December, the air turned chill again for the WBDC’s Winter Field day, held December 11, 2009. Nevertheless, about 60 people turned up for this half-day event consisting of an afternoon of guided field tours of research projects in progress, a couple indoor presentations and a question and answer session.  The field tours included:

  • bale grazing
  • backgrounding calves on swath grazing
  • backgrounding calves on DDGS and bale grazing
  • grazing cows on pea straw and chaff

Blairs’ Livestock also hosted a Class of ’09 Scholarship Heifer sale at the ranch the next day, Saturday, December 12.

Click here for directions to the Termuende Research Ranch.

Below are links to presentations that were given at the 2009 Winter Field Day

2009 Summer Field Day

Our 2009 field day drew a crowd of over 180 attendees from far and wide. Guest speakers addressed Market Outlooks, Low-Cost Producers, and Controlling Leafy Spurge with Beef Cattle. The afternoon field tours took in research dealing with Copper in Trace Mineral Programs, Calving Season Economics, Cost of Production, Winter Feeding Systems, Bale Grazing Calves and Run-off Water Filtration. Many people topped the day off with a delicious steak supper and visiting.

Below are links to presentations that were given at the 2009 Summer Field Day:

Copper in Trace Mineral Programs – Dr. Steve Hendrick
Calving Season Economics – Tanis Sirksi & Lynne Girardin
Winter Feeding Systems; Monitoring Manure Nutrients – Dr. Jeff Schoenau/Amber Smith
Bale Grazing Calves; Supplementing Dry Distillers’ Grains – Dr. Bart Lardner/Leah Dixon
Run-off Water filtration - PFRA
Cost of Production – Leo Kosokowsky

We would like to thank our sponsors for the day:

GOLD SPONSORS

Blair's Crop & Livestock Solutions
Feed Rite Ltd
Maple Farm Equipment
Sask. & Canadian Angus Associations
Verified Beef Productions


SILVER SPONSORS

Conexus
Kelln Consulting Ltd.
Lamb Acres Farm Supply 
Canadian Hereford Association
Highline Manufacturing
Viterra Forages
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (Shelterbelt Centre)


BRONZE SPONSORS

Canadian Limousin Association
PFRA

 

Special thanks to the Carleton 4H Beef Club for coordinating the noon lunch.

2008 Winter Field Day

Forty-five hardy people braved the chill winds on December 2 (Tuesday), 2008 to attend the first WBDC Winter Field Day.  Producers had a chance to see first hand, ongoing research projects at the Termuende Research Ranch.  Projects toured were:

  • Backgrounding calves on annual crop swath grazing
  • Nutrient Export
  • DDGS supplementation for straw/chaff pile grazing cows
  • Supplementation of DDGS in winter backgrounding

The data gathered to date from these research projects shows that in-field feeding or grazing beef cattle during the winter can reduce costs of keeping beef cows or backgrounding calves, and thus can result in keeping some cash in the producers’ pockets by reducing feed handling, yardage, and manure hauling costs.

Producer feedback for the event was very positive.

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Cow/Calf Schools

Each year, usually in the January to March time frame, the WBDC sponsors a series of cow/calf schools around the Province of Saskatchewan . These are typically one-day schools for producers where they can get current information on various aspects of the beef industry from WBDC staff and invited speakers.

Watch here for further details as the information becomes available.

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Beef and Forage Symposium

This is a joint event put on by the Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture, the University of Saskatchewan, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, and the Western Beef Development Center, the Saskatchewan Cattlemen’s Association, the Saskatchewan Cattle Feeders Association, the Saskatchewan Stock Growers Association and the Saskatchewan Forage Council. The symposium focuses on issues that are relevant to producers, specifically where the industry will develop in the area of value-added beef production.

The 2010 Beef and Forage Symposium is partnering with the Saskatchewan Beef Industry Conference (SBIC) and will be the lead-off event for an exciting four days of activities. The theme for the Beef Week is “Securing Beef Beyond 2020: A Collective Approach.”

The 2010 Beef and Forage Symposium will be held on January 20, 2010. Click here for the agenda.

Registrations will be taken through AgriBiz Communications. Click here for a downloadable registration form.

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Saskatchewan Pasture School

With an annual attendance limited to fifty producers, the Saskatchewan Pasture School provides a forum for grazing managers to gain practical knowledge and expand their management skills through seminars, hands-on exercises and pasture tours.

The 2010 Saskatchewan Pasture School will be held June 16-17. A complete agenda will be available at a later date, but for more information or to be placed on the waiting list for registration, please contact: Saskatchewan Forage Council, Phone: 306.966.2148 or Email: office@saskforage.ca

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Trade Shows, etc.

  WBDC staff regularly attend trade shows, conferences, seminars, etc as guest speakers, with informational booths, or simply as information providers. Watch various events as they are promoted to see if someone from the WBDC is in attendance.

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Cost of Production Workshop

  The Western Beef Development Centre has been working on tracking producer costs for a number of years. The feedback from producers has been overwhelmingly positive about the value of this information. Now, to further assist the beef producer, WBDC has engaged AgMpower, a computer software developer, and Spring Creek Consulting Land and Cattle Consulting to design a product to meet the needs of the producer in projecting their individual costs and savings using different scenarios.

Cost control is key to survival for the beef producer as much as it is to any business owner. The job of finding costs that can be cut can be daunting. At the Cost of Production workshops, participants will learn how to input and calculate their own ranch or farm costs, calculate returns, and conduct scenario planning. The workshops will be held as follows:

Date Location  Venue  Address
January 29 Stoughton Pat’s Place South side of the Hwy at the Junction
February 2 Lloydminster rescheduled-see below  
February 4 Prince Albert rescheduled-see below  
February 22 Weyburn cancelled  
February 24 Yorkton Comfort Inn 22 Dracup Avenue
March 8 Maple Creek Jasper Historical Centre 311 Jasper Street
March 10 Moose Jaw Comfort Inn 155 Thatcher Dr W
March 23 Lloydminster West Harvest Inn 5620 44th Street
March 25 Prince Albert Travelodge 3551 2nd Avenue West

Registration is free but there are a limited number of seats in each workshop. Call WBDC today at 306-682-3139 or toll-free at 1-800-567-7264 to register, or download the registration form (click here), and fax it to 306-682-5080.

Each registrant is welcome to bring his/her own computer, but if it is more convenient, one will be provided for use at the workshop. A private workspace will be available to each registrant, large enough to accommodate two people. Examples and step-by-step instructions on how to enter your information into the software program will be available, and instructors will be on hand for personal discussions and assistance.

To prepare for the workshop, each registrant should bring their financial information. (Click here) to download a comprehensive check-off list of data to bring.

To download the agenda for the workshops (Click here).

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