Aggie Livestock update talks about the pandemic challenges for livestock industry – Cache Valley Daily

Utah State University Extension hosts an open, online meeting for beef producers and other stakeholders on the third Wednesday of each month.

LOGAN – A recent study conducted by a team of top agricultural economists for the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association found COVID-19 could cost the industry a $13.6 billion loss. The study showed beef producers will be hit hardest by coronavirus pandemic-related losses.

Utah State University Extension will hosts an open, online meeting for beef producers and other stakeholders on the third Wednesday of each month on the ZOOM meeting platform. The next Aggie Livestock update will be Wednesday, May 20 at 7 p.m. Dallen Smith, director of Rich County Extension, will address supplements for beef cattle and some of the strains on beef producers resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. The link to this month’s meeting is: tinyurl.com/AggieLivestockUpdate.

“We’ll discuss working toward a good mineral program, and then talk about where people should and should not cut costs,” Smith said. “It could be difficult making it through this year because of the coronavirus and also our weather. We’ve probably got a drought across most of Utah except for the southern portion of the state.”

The Aggie Livestock Update began as a program for producers in Rich County, but organizers Matt Garcia, Ryan Larsen, and Smith decided to make the broadcast open to producers throughout the Intermountain West. The first session was broadcast on April 22.

“I think right now the biggest questions a lot of these guys have are related to market projections,” Garcia said. “But the market is turning pretty bad for them, and what we’re trying to do is prepare them to be adaptable and to be able to weather the storm.”

At the seminar on June 17, Ruger Carter with USU Extension’s Juab and Garfield county offices will address range management. Smith welcomes topic suggestions for future webinars in the series and interested producers are invited to email questions to dallen.smith@usu.edu.