The agenda for the Thompson Farm Field Day on Thursday evening has been updated.
Since this is the first evening program, some changes were needed, said University of Missouri organizers.
Dinner was moved to 7 p.m. Registration remains at 3:30 p.m. The evening welcome at 6 p.m. added two new speakers.
The afternoon pasture tours will show MU cattle. Cows include some that shed hair easily and some that don’t shed. That affects heat stress.
Also, some cattle at the extremes of the GeneMax genetic tests will be sorted off. Sometimes cows that look the best may not be top producers.
All females in the beef herd have been DNA tested. Those tests give data for selecting top breeding stock. Indexes provide dollar values in advance of breeding.
Field day topics remain the same. Times have been moved. Evening talks start at 7:30 p.m.
The new dean of the MU College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources, Chris Daubert, gives the welcome. He is joined by Bill Lamberson, director of the Division of Animal Sciences.
Thompson Farm research uses sexed semen for artificial insemination. MU researcher Jordon Thomas will tell his successes.
Extension nutritionist Eric Bailey will make his first appearance at the research farm. He tells about cows’ feed intake.
Harly Durbin will tell of her study of hair shedding as a tool for selecting breeding stock.
At 7:45, MU geneticist Jared Decker will explain dollar indexes used on cattle seen on tour.
The last talk starts at 8:10 p.m. MU Economist Scott Brown will tell what quality beef premiums added to cattle sold from the Thompson Farm. Prime beef bonuses boost income.
Research reports were changed to the evening so more farmers who work off-farm can attend.
Thompson Farm is at the end of Highway C, west of Spickard. The event is free.
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