PAC Beef Summits ~ "Providing The Finishing Touches"

I had received an email from PAC (Production Animal Consultation) regarding their 2017 Beef Summits conference in Kearney, Nebraska on the 4th of April and figured I was so close this year I would just be stupid not to go. The focus was “Providing the Finishing Touches” in relation to growing fat cattle in a feedlot setting. There were some truly inspiring, world-renowned veterinarians and industry people with tremendously valuable insight to many different areas of beef production specific, but not limited to, the feedlot industry. I really got a lot out of the conference that day.

Travelling up to Kearney from Manhattan the day of the meeting meant that I didn’t arrive until around 9am which unfortunately meant that I had missed the networking breakfast and Dr Pete Anderson’s presentation on “The Biology of Growth: How a Feeder Steer Turns into a Fed Steer.” This would have been great to see, however it is what it is and I just couldn’t swing it to get there any earlier. Dr Simone Holt from the Nutrition Service Association, Australia spoke about alleviation strategies for feedlot cattle during heat challenges with reference to an interesting study she was a part of in the middle east. Dr Chris Chase talked about the specific biology of the immune system relative to control and prevention of morbidity in cattle with his “Dealing With the Good the Bad and the Ugly of Immunity in Finishing Cattle” presentation. The absolutely brilliant Dr Kev Sullivan from PAC, Australia spoke just before lunch on heat stress and shipping and was directly followed by an incredible motivational speaker Miss Amberley Snyder. Amberley is a barrel racer and breakaway roper who was in an awful car accident, which sentenced her to a life in a wheelchair. Truly if you ever get a minute someday, you really ought to look this lady up and hear her story, she is just amazing!

Dr Dan Thompson was scheduled to speak about “Finished Cattle Opportunities for Feedlot Operators at 2.30pm but was unable to be there at that time so this presentation was done by two more incredible roll models of mine, Dr Tom Noffsinger and Dr Ted Howard. Dr Ted also presented on the “Principles of Finished Cattle” wherein he spoke a while inside then he and Dr Kip Lukasiewicz held a short stockmanship clinic in the arena. With this, they paired a practical demonstrational component to the benefits of low stress stock handling talked about inside.

Truly, it felt like I was back at the Grand Ole Opry, I just couldn’t believe my luck being there! I mean, my goodness these blokes truly are the big dogs of livestock health and everything that entails. I just absolutely LOVE their incredible passion towards progressing and bettering the beef industry, it was infectious and the way they all just lit up teaching people was excellent! Honestly, I was just doing my absolute very best not to embarrass myself by looking like a little girl at a Justin Beiber concert or a kid on Christmas Eve cause that’s about how I felt! I was very humbled though by each of their attitudes. These blokes are famous right across the globe in their respective fields and personally, I have no words strong enough to correctly express the true amount of respect that I have for them. That aside, the modest way in which they presented themselves in casual conversation was like as though they had absolutely no idea just how cool they are. It was very humbling. I was very impressed.

I did have to miss a day of class to enable my attendance to this conference; however, it was an immensely valuable experience for me. Not only due to the learning opportunities provided there that day, but I was also given the networking chance of a lifetime that I could have only dreamt about had I not been blessed with this scholarship!