August 27, 2002

Feedlot Tours To Help Cattlemen Discover Calf Value

A two-day feedlot tour to southwestern Minnesota Oct. 22 - 23 will give North Dakota Cattlemen valuable insight about the value of their calves after weaning or backgrounding. Feedlots on the tour will feature use of byproduct feeds, concrete manure storage, steel buildings for diverting runoff water and total confinement systems.

The tour, sponsored by the NDSU Extension Service will leave Jamestown at 7 a.m., Tuesday, Oct. 22 and stop in Fargo at 9 a.m. to pick up additional participants.  The tour may visit a corn milling plant on its way to southwestern Minnesota to visit several feedyards.

Cost of the tour is $50 plus meals and motel.  Preregistration is required by Oct. 7 with a $25 prepayment. For more information contact Greg Lardy, NDSU Extension Service beef specialist in Fargo at (701) 231-7660 or Karl Hoppe, NDSU Extension Service area livestock specialist, at (701) 652-2951 or karl.hoppe@ndsu.nodak.edu .

“Feedlot tours are a popular way for cattlemen to explore the cattle feeding business,” Hoppe says. “Visiting with feedyard owners and operators provides valuable insight about the value of calves.”

Feedlot operators and cow-calf producers can also learn how to develop lower-cost rations from feedyards, Hoppe notes. “Because feedyards look to reduce cost per pound of gain, many of them are using low-cost commodity feed and by-products. And feedyards are expanding because they can use competitively priced byproduct feeds that are available due to the growth of local grain processing companies.” 

“Previous tours have visited larger feedlots in Nebraska and Alberta. This tour will focus on smaller farmer-feeder feedyards that use byproduct feeds, deal with high rainfall conditions and are environmentally friendly,” Hoppe notes.

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Source: Karl Hoppe, (701) 652-2951, khoppe@ndsuext.nodak.edu
Editor: Tom Jirik, (701) 231-9629, tjirik@ndsuext.nodak.edu