Webinar Series

The 6th International Symposium on Beef Cattle Welfare will be hosted as a series of webinars from February through June 2022. There is no cost to attend.

The symposium's goal is to bring together renowned beef experts to discuss their latest research findings and emerging animal welfare issues that face the beef cattle industry. The webinar series will features topics of interest for producers, processors, retailers, government officials, NGOs, animal scientists, veterinarians and students.

The symposium will feature research on indoor beef production practices, the development of new or enhanced methods/tools for animal welfare assessment, emerging issues in beef production and management, and sustainable production. Research is critical to provide the science and technology to help stakeholders make informed decisions about best beef production and management practices to be sustainable and to secure the wellbeing of beef cattle. 

The symposium is calling for student abstract (undergraduate, graduate and veterinary students) submission for oral presentations or virtual posters. Student abstracts will be selected by the abstract review committee and invited to give oral presentations during the April 27, 2022 webinar. The call for abstracts is open for students until March 13 to be considered for acceptance.  

Each webinar will take place the fourth Wednesday of the month from 2-4 p.m. ET on Zoom. All webinars are being recorded and the recordings will be available on the website in June. Information about accessing the recordings will be emailed to registrants as soon as the recordings are posted online.

February 23, 2022

Advances in Indoor Beef Cattle Production

2-4 p.m. ET
Speakers:

  • Dr. Bernadette Earley, TEAGASC, Ireland
  • Dr. Dan Loy, Iowa State University
  • Dr. Terry Engelken, Iowa State University
  • Dr. Derek Haley, University of Guelph
  • Dr. Maria Devant and Sonia Marti, IRTA

March 23, 2022
Cow-Calf Management and General Production

2-4 p.m. ET
Speakers:

  • Dr. Kip  Lukasiewicz of Sandhills Cattle Consultants
  • Dr. Dan Thomson, Iowa State University
  • Dr. Jason Rowntree, Michigan State University
  • Kim Brackett

April 27, 2022
Emerging Issues and Student Presentations in Beef Cattle Welfare

2-4 p.m. ET
Speakers:

  • Dr. Karen Schwartzkopf-Genswein, Agriculture and AgriFood, Canada 
  • Dr. Courtney Daigle, Texas A&M 
  • Caleb Brezina: Evidence of social buffering benefits to castration stress in beef calves housed with familiar pen-mates 
  • Aiden Juge: Evaluating Dogs' Ability to Detect Bovine Respiratory Disease 
  • Paula Olivares Guzman: Does providing bedding change the latency and duration of cattle lying behavior 
  • Cathy McGettigan: The effect of floor type on the performance and welfare of finishing beef steers 
  • Dorit Albertsen: The natural weaning window in suckler beef cattle 
  • Francesca Johansen: Naturally weaned beef cattle preferentially associate with related cattle 
  • Ashlynn Kirk : Scoring septum injuries in beef calves with and without a nose flap

May 25, 2022
Technology Advancements and Opportunities: Tech Talks

2-4 p.m. ET
Speakers:

  • Dr. Diego Moya Fernandez, University of Saskatchewan
  • Jason Nickell, Merck Animal Health
  • Daniela Melendez Suarez, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
  • Mark Rutter, Harper Adams University, UK
  • Justin Sexten, Zoetis
  • Pieter Vogels, mOovement

June 22, 2022
Virtual Demonstrations in Beef Welfare Management

2-4 p.m. ET

Beef Welfare in Handling

  • Dr. Derek Haley, University of Guelph
  • Dr. Temple Grandin, Colorado State University
  • Dr. Karen Schwartzkopf-Genswein, Agriculture and AgriFood, Canada 

Michigan State University's Emergency Response to Accidents Involving Livestock (ERAIL)

  • Paola Bacigalupo Sanguesa, MSU Extension Educator

On-farm Euthanasia

  • Dr. Madonna Benjamin, Michigan State University
  • Dr. Jeannine Schweihofer, Michigan State University

Contact Information

For information and questions, please contact ANR Event Services at events@anr.msu.edu or 517-355-4156.

Cattle in a field

Beef Welfare Symposium fifth session to focus on practical management in sorting to euthanasia in beef cattle welfare

June 16, 2022

The Sixth International Symposium on Beef Cattle Welfare fifth session to focus on practical management in sorting to euthanasia in beef cattle welfare on June 22 at 2 p.m. ET.

Cattle unloading from a stock trailer.

Beef Welfare Symposium fourth session to focus on technology in beef cattle welfare

April 15, 2022

The Sixth International Symposium on Beef Cattle Welfare fourth webinar session to focus on technology on May 25 at 2 p.m. E.T.

Cattle unloading from a stock trailer.

Beef Welfare Symposium third session to focus on emerging issues in beef cattle welfare

April 13, 2022

The Sixth International Symposium on Beef Cattle Welfare third webinar session to focus on emerging issues on April 27 at 2 p.m. E.T.

Beef Welfare Symposium second session set to explore cow/calf management strategies and research from newborn care to holistic approaches in land management

March 8, 2022

The Sixth International Symposium on Beef Cattle Welfare second webinar session features experts discussing the latest in cow/calf production on March 23 at 2 p.m. E.T.

Hereford calves eating at a feedbunk inside a barn.

Beef Welfare Symposium starts off with Advancements in Indoor Beef Cattle Production

February 16, 2022

The Sixth International Symposium on Beef Cattle Welfare begins with experts discussing advancements in indoor beef cattle production on Feb. 23 at 2 p.m. E.T.

Red beef cow

Michigan State University to host sixth International Symposium on Beef Cattle Welfare Webinar Series in 2022

January 7, 2022

The virtual symposium will bring together academia experts, students, producers, retailers, government officials and industry representatives to discuss the latest in beef welfare.