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The 2022 MN Cattlemen's Summer Tour will be on July 12! We hope you can join us for this collaborative event between the MN State Cattlemen's Association and UMN Extension.
Hosted by members of the University of Minnesota Extension Beef and Dairy Teams, The Moos Room discusses relevant topics to help beef and dairy producers be more successful. The information is evidence-based and presented as an informal conversation between the hosts and guests.
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Joe: Welcome to The Moos Room, everybody. We thought it was the OG3 today, but we are missing Bradley. We have no idea what's going on. Hopefully, he's okay. We're texting him. We got no response right now, so we're stuck.
Emily: Listen next week for an update. [laughs]
Joe: Yes. We'll let you guys know what's going on next week. It's just the gruesome twosome today. Surprise.
Emily: Gruesome twosome.
Joe: Yes. Surprise gruesome twosome episode. Today we've got a big event coming up at the University of Minnesota in collaboration with the Minnesota State Cattlemen's Association. Today we're going to dedicate an episode to just talking about what's going on and hoping that everyone in the state can join us.
Emily: I'm really excited about the event this year because it's going to have a little bit different flavor than it has in the past, just with the location and all of that. Without further ado, Joseph, what are we talking about?
Joe: The Minnesota State Cattleman's Summer Tour is on July 12th and it's going to be at the University of Minnesota. We're hosting this year. It's different, like Emily said. Usually, it's hosted by a local Cattleman's group and you travel to different producer sites and you see a bunch of different things on a bus tour and it's a big gathering for cattlemen in the state. It still going to be a gathering of cattlemen in the state, trying to get everyone together to socialize and hang out for the day.
It's going to be a little different because we're going to be on campus and looking at a couple different key areas of campus and really taking our direction from the Cattleman's Board on what to focus on and what they wanted out of this event.
Emily: I think it's really cool that it's going to focus a little more on what's happening on the research side. That's just such a great tie with university and with Extension, since Extension especially, that's what our job is, is we take this research that we do here at the university and then we use it to inform best management practices and other types of decisions. We educate producers about that. I think this is-- Like I said, it's a different flavor and I think it's really exciting.
I'm also really excited because the day kind of-- I know it starts, but also ends at one of my favorite places in the Twin Cities, which makes this definitely unlike any other Cattleman Summer Tour. That is in the evening from 4:00 to 8:00 attendees will have exclusive access to the Minnesota Zoo.
Joe: We really wanted to add something that was a little more family-friendly and end the day with something that's just fun. You don't have to worry about anything else, just have a good time, have the kids there, see the zoo. I know when I talk to Cattleman, the zoo is maybe one of the only reasons they come to the city sometimes and is deemed worthy of the trip to the city. We wanted to make that available and have it be available just for the attendees of the event. That's really the goal.
We'll start there early in the morning, just like every other Cattleman's tour, the buses leave early, registration starts at 6:00, buses leave at 7:00, all the buses leave at the same time will go to campus. Then the goal really is to stay off the bus as much as possible, which is, again, a little different from some other tours. We want people to be hands-on and learning and going to all the different sites. It's going to be a little more structured than usual. There will be a little more direction where we're visiting specific places with a specific goal in mind for learning at that location and building the toolbox that the cattlemen have available to them.
I think we can just go through an order of where all the different stops on the tour.
Emily: Yes. I like thinking we've set it up well enough that people are fully listening and engaged now. Enough of the teasing, let's get to the meat of it here. What will the stops on campus include?
Joe: The Andrew Boss Lab and Meat Science is always a staple on campus, when we give tours and we talk cattle. The goal is again, like we want to see things we want to be hands-on, we'll be off the bus. The goal is to have some cutting demos there. We're also working on having different types of animals hanging on the rail. We'll have the ability to have people see on the rail, different types of animals and be able to see what that looks like on the rail, what those cut sections look like, and see the end product.
Then Ryan and his staff will go through some cutting demos so you can see where do these cuts come from and how is it all put together and how do they take it apart? Of course, there's always snacks involved when you go to the meat lab, so there'll be plenty of those there as well. Lots to do.
Emily: I feel like I have to give a special shout-out to Ryan Cox because he always has the snack game on lock. If the zoo isn't enticing enough, I hope the snacks will be, because there will be plenty and they will be good. I have no doubt.
Joe: Oh, absolutely. There's always snacks and Ryan is very upfront about his drive to feed everyone that visits the meat lab. That'll be a big draw I think. Just the snacks alone is a great reason to come.
Emily: All right. What else? Meat lab and then?
Joe: Then we've got the vet school on board as well. They're a big part of what makes the St. Paul campus go and where a lot of our research comes from that we use. We also train our veterinarians here on campus and in collaboration with that, with different partners or around the Twin Cities area. We're going to be going to the Leatherdale Equine Center looking at what does that look like? What happens when you have a private and a corporate partnership with the university to build something, that's pretty impressive in my opinion.
A place where we treat horses on another level. There's a lot available. I think it's interesting to imagine what it looks like with a horse running on the treadmill at full speed over there. It's quite a sight. I think there's a lot of things to see there. It is one of those things where we're looking to show, okay, what can happen when we partner with the university and have the funds available now. I think that conversation is something I'd love to have with cattlemen across the state and just say, "Okay, here, what can we do for you guys?
This is what is here and what's available for Equine." A lot of people that have cattle also have horses, so I think it'd be fun to see, but, "This is what's possible. What can we do for you guys as well on the cattle side?"
Emily: I have been to the Leatherdale Equine Center. It sounds kind of clich�, but talk about a state-of-the-art facility. You mentioned the treadmill, because it's like they have the water tank treadmill, so they fill this tank up with water, so the horse is more buoyant. My favorite thing there that I always remember, and I can't remember if they have one or two of these, but it's basically like this long aisle that they'll walk the horse down and then there's sensors in the floor so they can look at the horse's gait and figure out how it's walking and if there's lameness issues.
That's my favorite part of the Leatherdale Equine Center is that thing. I think that technology is super cool and absolutely has applications to a lot of other areas with any sort of animals too. I think that it's cool that there's going to be some additional pieces included in this tour that maybe aren't at the forefront about beef, but things we can apply to that. For some people, horses are a really real part of their beef operation. I think most people think that that's reserved for out West and Montana and Wyoming, but there are beef producers here in Minnesota that will use horses to check their cattle or to move them.
Joe: It's going to be fun to not only see that facility and how state of the art it is, like Emily said. Also, we're going to have the opportunity to meet with some of the leadership at the vet school and talk more about how students are trained and what the education process looks like at the vet school. Talk about how do we manage teaching students about cattle and large animals, food animal, medicine when we live in the cities for school? How does that work? It only works with partnerships like with Davis Family Dairies, and other partners that we use to help students get that experience.
It's a great opportunity to show what the University vet school is doing to make sure that we have rural vets available and that we continue to encourage veterinarians to set up shop in rural areas.
Emily: I think it's really great too that I know a lot of faculty are planning on being on campus that day and being around for the tour. It's also an opportunity for producers on the tour to provide feedback to these faculty and what are the issues that are important to producers that you want us at the university to be aware of and looking at and doing research on. I think that there's some really cool opportunity just for those conversations to happen. What else? I feel like there's more happening on campus for this tour.
Joe: There's a ton. We can't not talk about the diagnostic laboratory. They're going to have a little piece of that tour with the vet school as well. Again, like Emily said, that the whole point is to get feedback as well. We want to hear from the industry and know what we could be doing differently, what we could be doing better. If we're doing anything good, we'd love to hear about that as well. We're looking to improve and do that using feedback from the industry so that's a big part of it. Now, the crown jewel of the whole tour, and this is all based on feedback from the cattlemen, is our forage research plots.
So we've dedicated two whole hours to nothing but forage. It's really a big effort from the forage team here at the university. They put a lot of time into figuring out what would work best for a large number of people and how can we help everyone learn what's available. Last time I counted and last time I drove by, there's 37 different forage species planted side by side. You can see them side by side and see what they do and what they look like and how they perform and we can have that conversation, what's best for what? What time of year?
What conditions we're experiencing, all sorts of weird weather. Unfortunately, it's only going to be more common when we have these weird weather events. We need to know what's available, what's in the toolbox, what can you use, all the different things that are available. There's a lot more out there than I ever knew about. It'll be fun to see all those things planted side by side and be able to see that and get your hands on it and see what it looks like.
Emily: That side-by-side comparison, That's what makes research plots so fascinating to me. I'll be the first to admit, I am not a crops person by any stretch of the imagination, but I can appreciate a good research plot. Because it is really helpful to see all these different species side by side that have all gone through the same conditions, all had the same weather happen to them. I know, especially in the Twin Cities around campus, it has been pretty wet, so what forages have done really well with the high moisture, and which one is not so much, and being able to make that comparison, I think will be really, really helpful.
Just having our forage team there to answer those questions. Those are the folks you want to talk to. They're all very, very smart. I would be remiss if I didn't share a quick fun story about the forage research plots. A few years ago I was out at the plots to pick up some supplies for something. As I was leaving the research plots, I backed into a fence post and that dent is still in my car. [laughs]
Joe: I forgot about that. I did ask you about that one time.
Emily: I have a really strong bond with the research plot, says every time I look at my car, I think about them.
Joe: That's awesome. [laughter] I love it. It's going to be fun. I'm really excited. That's one portion. We'll have everything side by side so we can talk about what's available. The research plots are just a completely unique thing and you need a unique equipment to make it work. Basically, everything is miniaturized and or custom-built for these research plots. We're going to have a lot of that equipment available for people to see, which I think is fun because it's completely different and somewhat hilarious, almost cartoonish how small some of these pieces of equipment are compared to what we see out and about when you're on the road.
That's going to be available. I know that there's a lot of--
Emily: Everything is more fun in miniature. That's what I think.
Joe: Farmers can resist kicking a tire here and there and trying to figure out how things work. I think that's going to be a big draw because it is a tiny machinery hill. There'll be other equipment there as well, but that's the focus is, how do we make these research plots go and what kind of equipment is it that we use to make the research happen?
Emily: It's crazy to me that we just talked about this full day of stuff on campus that's happening. Then the buses go back to the zoo and there's four hours of exclusive access to Minnesota Zoo too. This is a really standout tour in my mind. All right. Joe, if people want to learn more, are interested about registration, cost, all of that good stuff, where can they go?
Joe: The easiest place to go is z.umn.edu/mnsummertour. That'll get you everything you need to know about the tour. It'll get you to registration so you can get registered. Tickets are $25 up until June 15th. Then after June 15th, they're going to bump up to $30. You're welcome to pay at the door. We love pre-registering here at Extension because it gives us accurate account for all the food and catering and I don't have to stress about whether or not there's enough food, which Emily and I have experienced together actually.
We've had to make signs that say only take one sandwich and I don't want to have to do that.
Emily: We want you to have all the sandwiches you want.
Joe: Exactly. [crosstalk] If you can pre-register, that would be excellent.
Emily: A really cool thing about this tour too that I saw is students can attend. Since it's on campus, University of Minnesota students are invited to attend for a discounted rate of $15, which I think is really great too. For the gophers in your life, the U of M students, be sure to let them know that this is happening. May give them the opportunity to see some parts of campus that they normally don't get to.
Joe: Absolutely. The last time the university hosted this, there was somewhere around doing 300 and 350 people. That was way back in the early 2000s. We're hoping for at least that many people here and we're using 500 as our estimate. We're just planning on having this be a great gathering for everybody and hoping that everyone can make it. There are sponsorship opportunities available for any companies or businesses out there listening. Get ahold of me if you're interested in that.
Emily: Always put the plugin for the money, Joe.
Joe: I got to. My e-mail is armst225@umn.edu. You could, I guess also e-mail the podcast if you want.
Emily: Which is, themoosroom@umn.edu.
Joe: Absolutely.
Emily: Joe, for you, what part of the tour are you most excited about? Just one singular part. I'm not going to let you give a big blanket answer. What one singular thing are you most excited about?
Joe: Can I have 2 small parts?
Emily: Fine.
Joe: I am really excited for the forage piece of this. There's a lot of time that went into it trying to get everyone out there see the equipment, look at some of the resources happening, especially with alfalfa and some of the cool, just awesome research with cool technology happening out there. That is what I'm most excited for, but I can't hide my excitement for being able to be at the zoo with nobody else there except us. That's really a big piece of it. Supper is going to be at the zoo. We have the whole zoo to ourselves.
There'll be a cash bar available so you can wander around the zoo with a beer.
Emily: Dream come true.
Joe: You can not be excited about that.
Emily: I was going to say, I mean, the thing I'm most excited about/most disappointed that I'll be missing since I can't go is the forage research plots. Not just because of my fond memory of crashing my car there, but because that's just going to be a really cool thing to see. I'm also really excited to just hear about all the conversations that are had. I think for producers, this is also such a great opportunity to go out and be social, talk to, and learn from other producers around the state. With COVID and everything else, it feels like we've been separated from each other for so long.
This is just a great chance to come into the cities and gather with like-minded people from around the state and see a lot of cool stuff and learn a lot of cool things.
Joe: Absolutely. I couldn't say it better than myself. I mean, it's just a great time to gather and be social, which we haven't been able to do as much as we wanted to the last few years.
Emily: Is that a wrap?
Joe: It is a wrap. I think that's a wrap.
Emily: Did we do it? Again, if you want to look up more information and register online for the 2022 Minnesota Cattleman Summer Tour, you can find that at z.umn.edu/mnsummertour. As always, if you have questions, comments, or scathing rebuttals about today's episode, you can e-mail those to themoosroom@umn.edu.
Joe: That's T-H-E-M-O-O-S-R-O-O-M@umn.edu.
Emily: Follow us on Twitter @umnmoosroom and @umnfarmsafety. Check out our website, extension.umn.edu. If you have a question and want your question to be featured on a future episode of The Moos Room, you can call us and leave us a voicemail at 612-624-3610. Lots of stuff going on July 12th. We hope to see you at the Cattleman Summer Tour. It's going to be a really, really great tour and a fun time. I think that's it. Gruesome twosome out.
Joe: Bye.
Emily: Bye.
Joe: Bradley is still not here. [laughter] Who knows where Bradley is?
Emily: Where is Bradley?
Joe: Where is Bradley? Now, I'm--
Emily: He doesn't show up, this is going to turn into a true crime podcast.
Joe: I know. It's what happened to Bradley J. Heins.
Emily: The Moos Room.
Joe: Tenured Professor.
Emily: What happened to Bradley J. Heins tenured professor, truth may surprise you.
Joe: Maybe he did tell us he was going to be gone. I have no idea.
Emily: I can't remember. He's a hard man to keep track of on.
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[00:19:28] [END OF AUDIO]
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