The 69th annual Texas A&M Beef Cattle Short Course in Bryan-College Station will offer some cutting-edge ranch technology, along with basic beef cattle production information.

      The annual event is set for Aug. 7-9, with more than 1,900 cattle producers expected to come to the Texas A&M University campus, making it the largest event of its kind in the nation. The event is hosted by the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service and the Texas A&M College of Agriculture and Life Sciences’ Department of Animal Science. 

      Both in-person and online attendance is offered. The cost is $260 for in-person attendance and $160 for online if registered by Aug. 2. The price will increase to $300 after that date. To register, go to https://tx.ag/BCSC23Reg or call 979-845-6931 for more information.

      Jason Cleere, Ph.D., conference coordinator and AgriLife Extension beef cattle specialist in the Department of Animal Science, Bryan-College Station, said they have made a special effort to highlight advancing ranch technology this year.

      “We added a session specifically dedicated to beef cattle technologies,” Cleere said. “Some topics include precision livestock data management, cattle electronic monitoring and artificial intelligence on the ranch. As more data is collected on ranches, ranchers need ways to manage it to improve profitability.”

      There are also several new companies that will showcase their technologies during the trade show, Cleere said. More than 140 companies are expected at this year’s trade show, he noted.

      “We believe this year’s Beef Cattle Short Course offering is shaping up to be one of the best ever, and the interest from ranchers thus far has been great,” Cleere said. 

Embracing ranch technology to improve profitability

      The special session on technology will be from 8 a.m. to noon on Aug. 8 as a part of the Cattleman’s College sessions. The following are the topics and speakers:

• Optimizing Ranch Profitability by Managing Your Livestock, Grazing and Team All in One Place — Coby Buck, AgriWebb director of strategic accounts, Wray Ranch, Wray, Colorado.
• The Intersection of Technology and Genetic Acceleration: Shaping a Sustainable Beef Industry — Kerryann Kocher, CEO and co-founder of Vytelle, Kansas City.
• Leveraging Drones for Cattle Management: How, What and Why? — Meir Ginsburg, CattleQuants co-founder and director of business development, Cleveland, Ohio.
• Computer Vision for Animal Care — Geoffrey Shmigelsky, co-founder of OneCup AI, Vancouver.
• The Possibilities of Ranch Tech and the Role of Remote Monitoring — Andrew Coppin, Ranchbot Monitoring Solutions, co-founder and CEO, Sydney, Australia.

From horses to grazing management to cattle nutrition

      Before the three days of activities surrounding beef cattle, the annual Ranch Horse Program will be Aug. 6 in the Hildebrand Equine Complex. Registration is included within the full Beef Cattle Short Course registration, or individuals can attend just this event for $60.

      More than 50 hours of training will be offered in the Cattleman’s College, featuring 20 concurrent sessions, with topics including animal health, nutrition, reproduction, breeding, genetics, selection, research, marketing and handling. The management sessions will cover business, forage, range and purebred cattle, landowner issues and fence building.

      The course will also offer attendees 10 Texas Department of Agriculture pesticide continuing education units and 15 veterinarian continuing education credits.