Minnesota All-Breeds Convention & PDCA Annual Meeting

The Minnesota All-Breeds Convention & PDCA Annual Meeting will be March 8-9 at the Kelly Inn in St. Cloud, Minnesota. Registration is due Feb. 7. A full schedule and registration is available at https://www.mnholstein.com/news-and-events/all-breeds-convention.

  March 8

       11:30 a.m. Luncheon with Midwest Dairy checkoff update

1-1:45 p.m. The A to Z of Genetic Evaluations with Katie Schmitt

2-3 p.m. Break-out sessions

— Cover Crops. Centrasota. Reviewing cover crop options and answering producers’ questions.

— A.I. Trends. Select Sires, Shane Boettcher. Covering current A.I. and genetic trends within the industry.

— MPCA Permit Process. MPCA, Lisa Sherier. Discussing how to expand your dairy farm and the permits that may be needed to do so.

— MN Dept of Ag Programs. MN Dept of Ag, Richard Gruenes. Reviewing the programs and grants available to farmers.

— Calf Raising 101. Sarah Post Bierstadt. Covering tips and tricks to calf raising.

— Calf Ventilation. Dr. Ryan Leiterman, Crystal Creek. Talking about the proper environment for calves and what ventilation is best suited for calves.

3-4 p.m. Break-out sessions repeated

6 p.m. Dinner and banquet. Social hour and appetizers provided before the meal.

8-9 p.m. Entertainment by comedian Tim the Dairy Farmer.

  March 9

8-10 a.m. Breakout-out sessions

— “Life In and Out of Commodity Markets” by Lucas Sjostrom. An update concluding the dairy lobbying at the Capitol.

— “Who’s the Boss? Planning your dairy farm future” by MN Dairy Initiative. Presenting on the things that should be in place to keep your farm going in future years.

— “Renewable Energy Options” by Dr. Brad Heins. Covering the ways that dairy farmers can use renewable energy options on their farm.

9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Annual meetings. Each breed organization will host their annual meeting during this year’s convention.