Cattle producers from around the Peace Region are invited to the Peace Country Beef & Forage Association’s North Peace Beef Cattle Day on Jan. 29.
The event will be held at the Chateau Nova in Peace River starting at 10 a.m. and will focus on feed-related diseases, genetics, risk management, feed testing and other insights and tools to support herd performance and long-term sustainability.
“North Peace Beef Cattle Day is an annual event PCBFA hosts each year,” explains PCBFA’s Alaina Archibald.
“It’s designed to bring beef cattle producers of the Peace together for a day of learning and networking.”
Archibald says they have several excellent keynote speakers. Topics will be managing drought conditions, breeding and DNA-based strategies for improving beef herds, feed related diseases, and protecting assets.
“Speakers include Dr. John Basarab, Dr. Erik Burrow, Adanna Hustler, Braden Barber and Dr. Blasius Azuhnwi,” says Archibald.
“This is a fantastic learning opportunity for Peace Region producers to learn from some of the best in the industry,” she adds.
“Our keynote speaker, Dr John Basarab, RDAR Research Professor of Beef Cattle Genetics at the University of Alberta, has over 30 years experience in beef cattle production and management.”
Archibald explains Basarab’s current areas of work include improving feed efficiency, delivering genomic and production technologies to the beef industry, and greenhouse gas mitigation in beef cattle.
“Work completed has included the development of one of the largest databases for crossbred beef cattle in Canada for genetic marker discovery, global collaborations, and validation of the genomic tools like EnVigour HX TM,” she explains.
“He is also the author or co-author of more than 300 scientific and extension articles, winner of the 2010 Canadian Animal Industries Award in Extension and Public Service and co-recipient of the 2023 ASTech award for Best in Agriculture.”
Archibald says that decline in event attendance in the last five years is encouraging PCBFA to explore alternative medias to convey vital information to producers, such as webinars and videos online.
“However, time-and- time-again we receive a lot of recommendations from local producers that say if they didn’t come to our events, they would never speak to their friends and neighbours, which drives home the importance of in-person events and networking opportunities,” she concludes.
“Agricultural sector workers and rural living are two of the leading divisions of the decline in mental health, so we believe bringing like- minded people together is a fantastic opportunity.”
Archibald asks people preregister online at www.peacecountrybeef.ca. Lunch will be provided to attendees.
Emily Plihal
Local Journalism
Initiative Reporter