A cattle handling field day was hosted in conjunction with Marion and Boyle County Agents for Agriculture and Natural Resources for producers in the central region. According to a product development specialist and educational director from Tarter, their customer service department mainly receives calls from producers complaining that the product they purchased didn't work in their operation and usually it is because that equipment was made to serve a different purpose. We set forth a goal of educating producers on equipment selection, upcoming technology, and pregnancy checking because all of these factors affect the producer's bottom line and the decisions they make on their farm. 

This multi-station meeting was designed to help introduce producers to new technology and equipment available to them on the farm including software, ear tags, and cattle working products such as gates, chutes, sweep tubs, etc. There was also a station that allowed producers to work with the equipment and receive hands-on experience with learning to pregnancy check their cattle, this allowed them to decide if this was something they would be interested in learning to utilize on their farm. Lastly, there was a station on chute side handling that allowed producers to receive or renew their BQCA certification.  We utilized Circle 5 School for Cattlemen, a representative from 701X, and a product development specialist from Tarter.

With over 60 producers in attendance, from 7 different counties, we had individuals of all knowledge levels from potential producers to experienced farmers. This created a very wide variety of questions at each station and allowed for quality conversations between presenters and producers about what would work best for them and why. Several producers commented that this information would allow them to make more informed decisions on their upcoming purchases and would allow them to better use their cost-share funding. Other producers stated this program allowed them to decide if pregnancy checking was something that they felt comfortable utilizing on their own or if it was something they would still prefer to have a veterinarian do for them. Overall, this program has allowed the participants to feel more comfortable making purchasing decisions for their farms which will hopefully allow them to save money in the future.