Hardee Newsletter - April 2002

Hardee Rancher
Beef and Forage Newsletter

Hardee County Extension Service 507 Civic Center Drive Wauchula, Florida 33873 (863) 773-2164 Fax (863) 773-6861 E-mail lagary@mail.ifas.ufl.edu

April 2002

*Calendar Of Events*
May
1-3	Beef Cattle Short Course, Gainesville, FL
9	7:00 P.M. - Hardee County Cattlemen's Supper - Cow Belle's Kitchen, Wauchula, FL
13	3:00-5:00 P.M. - Rural and Recreational Pond Management Basics Course - Hardee County Agri-Civic Center, Wauchula, FL
June
19	FCA Annual Meeting, Marco Island, FL

Dear Cattleman -

We want to invite you to the Beef Cattle Short Course on May 1-3, 2002. The Short Course will be held at the Sheraton Hotel in Gainesville. This year's short course is being dedicated to the memories of Dr. Fred Leak and Dr. Bill Kunkle, faculty members in the Department of Animal Sciences, who we lost this past year. They contributed a great deal to Florida's beef cattle industry over the years and appeared on many Beef Cattle Short Course programs. This is also a very special Short Course for two other reasons. One, it marks the beginning of the second 50 years of Beef Cattle Short Courses and two, there is a very special program this year addressing the important subject of preparing for the changing beef cattle market while maintaining productive cattle in Florida's environment. The combination of Florida's environment and emerging specification marketing challenge Florida's beef producers more than any other beef producers in the country. So you, as a beef producer, must be more knowledgeable in the areas of genetics, environmental factors and marketing opportunities than your counterparts in other areas of the country. This year's Short Course is designed to provide you with that information and will include such topics as market outlook, effect of alliances on the beef cattle market and the market situation for Brahman influenced fed cattle. Using genetics to produce cattle for targeted markets while optimizing production in Florida's environment will be a major emphasis during Thursday morning's program. There will be demonstrations on bull

selection, beef quality assurance health procedures to maximize carcass value and determination of cull cow value on Thursday afternoon. Managing for efficient use of forages and supplements to maintain high beef productivity will be the focus of the Friday morning program. As usual, there will be a Wednesday evening trade show and the traditional cattlemen's steak-out on Thursday evening. This is a Beef Cattle Short Course full of information you can use, so you won't want to miss this one!

Sincerely,
County Extension Director

- Basic Pond Management Workshop -

The Cooperative Extension Service is sponsoring a "Rural and Recreational Pond Management Basics" workshop in Hardee County in May. The workshop is designed to help owners of farm ponds understand the basics of managing nuisance aquatic plants and the pond fishery for recreational purposes. The workshop is scheduled for May 13th at the Hardee County Agri-Civic Center in Wauchula. The workshop begins at 3:00 p.m. and will conclude at 5:00 p.m. There is no registration fee but registrations are requested by May 8th so adequate numbers of handouts will be available. For more information or to register call the Hardee County Extension Office at 863/773-2164. One Continuing Education Unit (CEU) will be offered in aquatics or core for this workshop.