With NCBA’s 2027 CattleCon coming up this February, Southeast AgNet sat down with Michaela Clowser, Senior Director for Producer Education at NCBA, to learn more about educational opportunities at the convention.
“The premier educational event that happens in conjunction with CattleCon is certainly Cattleman’s College. We have about 65 different speakers, whether those are researchers, industry experts, industry representatives, as well as producers speaking on a wide range of topics,” explained Clowser.
“So, a standout this year, we have a three-hour succession planning workshop. What that looks like setting up your operation for the next generation to focus on that sustainability and profitability for those generations down the line. We have some fantastic panels this year focused on technology and some of that cutting edge technology, whether it’s genomics, genetics, grazing, and just overall data collection for your animals,” Clowser said.
Clowser also said, “Additionally, we have some really cutting-edge research focused around the area of nutrition and genetics as well. So, a wide range. Additionally, something that’s really exciting with Cattleman’s College is that attendees will have the chance to become BQA certified.”
“We have a BQA certification on Thursday afternoon. And for those producers and attendees that are already BQA certified, they can attend certain Cattleman’s College sessions to earn a BQA continuing education credit. So, we have roughly about 10 to 15 sessions that offer BQA CE for those attendees,” said Clowser.
“Really excited about that with all things Cattleman’s College. And then we certainly always like to highlight this stockmanship and stewardship program that is in the demonstration arena all day on Wednesday. So, you’ll hear from experts Curt Pate and Dr. Ron Gill talk about cattle handling, cattle natural behavior, how to utilize that when working with cattle, different facility design,” Clowser added.
“And then a big focus this year is around transportation and transportation safety and worker safety and hauling cattle safely on the road as well. So with that, we will have a cattle pot on the trade show floor where attendees can go and get onto the cattle pot, look at the cattle pot up close and see how some of those cattle are hauled. Additionally, we have our Beef Quality Assurance producer forum as well, where we’ll hear a really excellent producer panel that will feature some of our national BQA award winners and then some excellent research updates from NCBA’s research team,” Clowser mentioned.
“So a wide range of educational opportunities that we’re really excited about. For listeners that want to learn more about this, go to convention.ncba.org. That is the website for all things CattleCon. And then there is a opportunity for producers to attend for free. They can utilize the Rancher Resilience Grant. So that is a grant process where producers can register and through reimbursement, their registration and hotel stay will be covered. So they just got to get there and it’s a really great opportunity,” Clowser said.
Audio Reporting by Elizabeth Sanders for Southeast AgNet.