Feedlot management school filling up fast

Source: Saskatchewan Agriculture and Food

The 11th annual Western Canada Feedlot Management School at the University of Saskatchewan is expected to be the 11th consecutive sell-out of the four-day seminar.

This year's school will be held July 30 through August 2 in Saskatoon. Enrolment is limited to 45 students, and organizer Dr. John McKinnon says there is always a diversity of people in attendance.

"We have had people from grain farmers with very little animal experience right through to the owner of one of the largest feedlots in Canada," McKinnon said. "In some cases, it is producers wanting to [expand] their cow-calf operations … with backgrounding operations; in others, it is owners and their employees looking to expand their skills. Every year, we also have some graduate students from the university that take the course to gain more practical experience in the work they do in their studies."

The school is a joint project of Saskatchewan Agriculture and Food, the Saskatchewan Cattle Feeders Association and the University of Saskatchewan.

The industry-government-university combination allows the school to draw from a wide array of expertise, and also allows it to focus on what producers really need, McKinnon explained.

The feedlot management school curriculum is broken into two core areas. The first two days focus on business and marketing, and the final two days focus on issues surrounding the management of feedlot cattle.

"We have industry experts, those involved in the marketing business, and economists making presentations on key topics [such as] … how to market cattle, how to effectively control costs and how to guard against some of the risks involved in feeding cattle," McKinnon noted.

"Then we get into areas such as nutrition, animal health and the tours that take us to feedlots, where we see how the topics discussed are being applied hands-on on a day-to-day basis."

If participants are unable to commit for the full four days, each two-day session can also be taken as a stand-alone course.

This year's field tours will take the class to the Goldenhill Cattle Company in Viscount, which has a capacity of approximately 20,000 head, and to the feedlot and packing plant operated by Natural Valley Farms in Neudorf.

McKinnon says the entire school is oriented towards providing participants with hands-on experience.

"In the business and marketing sessions, we may have a lecture, but then we'll move to our computer room and run market simulation programs that allow producers to get a feel for how the market changes," he said. "We've expanded our tours to give a more practical aspect to the classroom work that is conducted on-site."

The Western Canada Feedlot Management School is offered at a cost of $200 for either of the two-day sessions, or $350 for all four days. The registration fee includes course materials, some meals and tour transportation.

A full agenda and registration form are available at www.saskcattle.com, or by contacting Dr. John McKinnon at (306) 966-4137 or Sandy Russell with Saskatchewan Agriculture and Food at (306) 933-5570.

For more information, contact:

Dr. John McKinnon, Saskatchewan Beef Industry Chair
University of Saskatchewan
Phone: (306) 966-4137
E-mail: john.mckinnon@usask.ca

Sandy Russell, Beef Economist
Saskatchewan Agriculture and Food
Phone: (306) 933-5570
E-mail: srussell@agar.gov.sk.ca