(TOPEKA) – Program highlights for the August 22 Kansas Livestock Association (KLA)/Kansas State University Ranch Management Field Day at Dorrance will include discussions about the Kansas Secure Beef Supply Plan, anaplasmosis, CattleTrace, locust tree control and Old World bluestem. The event will be hosted by Rusty Acres, owned by Lyman and Rosmary Nuss. Rusty Acres is a fourth-generation farming and commercial cow-calf operation in Russell County.
Kansas Department of Agriculture Animal Health Planner Emily Voris will talk about how cattle producers can get involved in the Secure Beef Supply Plan. The plan is designed to facilitate the movement of animals from uninfected sites during any potential foot-and-mouth disease outbreak. This would help maintain business continuity, including providing a consistent supply of beef to consumers.
Hans Coetzee, department head and professor in the K-State College of Veterinary Medicine, will discuss anaplasmosis, a blood-borne disease annually costing the U.S. cattle industry more than $300 million in economic losses. With the disease becoming more prevalent across the state, Coetzee will help attendees learn to identify and detect anaplasmosis infections, while highlighting management strategies that help control and minimize incidences in Kansas cowherds.
Cassie Kniebel with the Beef Cattle Institute at K-State will provide an update on CattleTrace. The animal disease traceability pilot project is using scanners at auction markets, feedyards and packing plants to collect the minimal data needed in the event of a disease outbreak. The project is intended to guide the development of a cost-effective national disease traceability program that can operate at the speed of commerce.
Other speakers on the program at Dorrance will include K-State extension specialist Keith Harmoney with suggestions on controlling locust trees and yucca plants, and K-State range management specialist Walt Fick outlining issues surrounding Old World bluestem.
The field day at Rusty Acres will begin with registration at 3:00 p.m. and include a free beef dinner at 6:45 p.m. All livestock producers and others involved in the business are invited to attend.
Rusty Acres is located south of Dorrance. From I-70 take Exit 199 at Dorrance and travel south on 200 Boulevard for 4 ½ miles. Turn east on 200 Street and follow the curve south for 2 ½ miles. The event will be held on the west side of the road. Field Day directional signs will be posted.
Other field days in the 2019 series will be held August 13 at High Plains Ponderosa Dairy near Plains and August 15 at Moyer Farms north of Emporia. All the field days are sponsored by the Farm Credit Associations of Kansas and Bayer Animal Health. For directions or more information, click here.
KLA is a trade organization representing the business interests of independent beef producers at the state and national levels. Members of the association are involved in all segments of the livestock industry, including cow-calf production, backgrounding, cattle feeding, swine, dairy and sheep.
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