The program offers a free lunch at noon and herd tours at 2:30 p.m. Speakers will be available afterward for questions, said Rod Geisert, Columbia, superintendent.

More than 15 years of research at the farm has developed breeding protocols to make superior calves that sell for more at market time. Fixed-time artificial insemination has been the result. All cows in a herd can be bred by appointment on one day.

David Patterson, MU Extension beef reproduction specialist, led research at the farm. He will explain results from using the protocols, now used nationwide for breeding cows and heifers.

He will be followed by Mike Kasten, beef producer from Millersville, Mo. Kasten has records on the payoff received from the Show-Me-Select Replacement Heifer Program. He will tell how estrus synchronization and fixed-time AI led to his success.

Kasten forms alliances with neighboring beef herd owners. He provides AI breeding and management. Then he buys the calves at premium from the cooperators.

Scott Brown, MU Extension beef economist, will tell of the growing demand for high-quality beef in domestic and international markets. He will explain how grid premiums work in the high-quality market.

Mark Sebranek, manager of the Irsik and Doll Feed Yard, Garden City, Kan., will tell how he manages high-quality cattle for added value. He has been feeding calves from Thompson Farm. Those calves have won the Angus Source Carcass Challenge for the last two years. They topped all feed yards in the central states.

In a shift to international competition, Dan Mallory will tell of his trip to Brazil last year as an intern. He and Ky Pohler joined AI teams in breeding cows on large ranches. They came back amazed at the progressive attitude of beef producers in South America.

Megan Rolf of the MU Division of Animal Sciences will talk on efficiency of genomic evaluation. In the future, DNA tests can aid beef producers on the farm.

Craig Payne, MU Extension veterinarian, will explain needed vaccination programs in beef herds.

Linda Hickam, veterinarian with the Missouri Department of Agriculture, will describe the trichomoniasis outbreak in Missouri cattle. New laws control the sale of bulls in the state.

The program is free and open to the public. The farm is located at the end of Highway C off Highway 65, west of Spickard, Mo. Visitors traveling to the farm are cautioned to watch for Amish buggies on the narrow highways.

A national Beef Reproduction Conference in Joplin recently featured the research from the Thompson Farm.