The seventh annual I-29 Dairy Conference will be held in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, on Feb. 8-9. The conference begins with registration from 3:30 to 9 p.m. on Feb. 8 at the Best Western Ramkota Inn & Conference Center, 3200 W. Maple St.

Registration costs $30 per person and includes materials and lunch. Discounts are available for members of the Milk Producers Association of North Dakota, South Dakota Dairy Producers or Western Iowa Dairy Alliance. Lodging discounts are available to those who register at the Ramkota Inn before Jan. 18. To make a lodging reservation, call (605) 336-0650 and mention "SDSU Dairy Science" to get the conference rate of $85.99 (single/double occupancy) plus tax.

Those who wish to register can mail contact information and payment to Melinda Bennett, SDSU Dairy Science, SDM Bldg, Rm 136, Box 2104, Brookings, SD, 57007-0647. Make checks payable to SDSU Dairy Science Dept.

The 2012 conference is titled “Resilient Sustainability: Global Dairy Issues, Now and in the Future” and will feature numerous expert speakers.

The Extension services of South Dakota, Iowa, North Dakota, Nebraska and Minnesota, along with the Southwest Minnesota Dairy Profit Group and Midwest Dairy Association, are coordinating the conference. Sessions during the conference include the following:

• Dairy Globalization
• Interpreting Sustainability
• European-style Dairy Sustainability
• Long-range Weather Forecasting
• How Are We Going to Feed Cows in the Future?
• Don’t Bet the Farm
• Midwestern Economic Resiliency

To sponsor the conference, contact South Dakota Cooperative Extension Dairy Specialist Alvaro Garcia at (605) 688-5488.

For other information, contact organizer J.W. Schroeder of the North Dakota State University Animal Sciences Department at (701) 231-7663. PD

—From SDSU news release