It’s a cold morning on South Dakota State University’s campus, and I suspect that winter may start creeping its ugly face out here sooner than later. To make the idea of winter sound a little more enticing, I think I’m going to mark my calendar to attend a few highly credible beef industry functions.

Today’s headline, Beef 20/20 at SDSU, discusses a great workshop held in Brookings, S.D., January 6-8. I attended the event two years ago, and although I was the only “under 50″ attendant, it was a great event that gave me a new perspective on the industry as a cow-calf producer.

If January is too long to wait for action-packed conferences, be sure to register for the BEEF Quality Summit in Colorado Springs, CO on Nov. 6-7, 2008. This year’s theme is “Quality-A Solution to Rising Costs.” This conference is filled with great speakers and provoking panels developed to better serve you as a beef industry professional.

I’m a firm believer in these kinds of functions. They are great ways to pick up new, effective management practices to increase the quality of your product and to up your bottomline. So don’t wait, get signed up today!

As for me, I only have one more class before I get to go back to my job as a weekend rancher. On the agenda this weekend: pregnancy examinations for the cowherd. Be sure to stop back at the blog Monday for a full report on the weekend’s events!