All beef and dairy producers, those selling feed to beef and dairy operations, as well as industry professionals are invited to join Minnesota Dairy Initiative and UMN Extension on Monday, July 8, at the Pipestone County Fairgrounds for a free educational event focusing on cow efficiency and forage production.

With high feed costs, improving whole-farm feed efficiency for both beef and dairy operations is crucial for maximizing herd profitability. At this event, leading industry professionals and University specialists will discuss cow efficiency as it relates to both beef and dairy operations, and how to maximize tonnage and profitability per alfalfa acre.

Morning refreshments will be provided courtesy of First Bank and Trust of Pipestone. Lunch will be provided by the Pipestone Area Cattlemen’s Association. The Pipestone County Dairy Association will have soft serve ice cream that will be served by 2024 Princess Kay of the Milky Way finalist, Katelyn Welgraven.

Following lunch will be a panel discussion that includes the morning presenters, Wade Kidman of Chandler Feed/Byron Seed to discuss cover crop mixes and alternative forages, and Justin Decker, conservation agronomist, to give updates and discuss what programs and assistance are available to area producers. Following the panel discussion, area forage equipment representatives will be on site to demonstrate and discuss some of the latest updates in haying equipment and forage preservation, and an equipment demonstration.

This program will be held at the Pipestone County Fairgrounds, located at 10th Ave SE, Pipestone, MN 56164.

•10-11 a.m. Optimizing beef cow nutrition and management or What makes a “feed efficient” dairy cow?

•11 a.m.-noon Alfalfa Persistence is Profit

• Noon-12:45 p.m. Lunch sponsored by Pipestone County Cattleman’s Assn.

• 12:45-1:15 p.m. Panel discussion including morning presenters: Wade Kidman, Chandler Feed Company forage and seed specialist and Byron Seeds, and Justin Decker, conservation agronomist

• 1:15 -2 p.m. Latest updates in haying equipment and forage preservation

Equipment demonstration — Sterling Equipment, C&B Operations, Gorter’s Clay and Dairy Equipment

Please pre-register at z.umn.edu/Cowefficiency2024, or by calling the Pipestone Extension Office at 507-825-1190. Thanks to generous sponsor support, door prizes will be given away following lunch. A special thank you to T&B Sales of Pipestone for donating a cattle mineral feeder to be given away. To be eligible for door prizes, you must pre-register for this event by Sunday, July 7.

Visit extension.umn.edu/local/pipestone for more information on the program, and to view the complete flyer.

For more information, contact Melissa Runck, agricultural production systems Extension educator, Pipestone and Murray counties, 507-825-1193, mkrunck@umn.edu