Temple Grandin

1. Resilience for Land and Livestock Conference

Temple Grandin will headline the Northwest Grazing Conference March 27-28 at the Pendleton, Ore., Convention Center.

This year’s conference will focus on building the resilience of land and livestock.

Grandin, a Colorado State University animal science professor, promotes low-stress livestock handling and is known for her expertise in livestock management and designing livestock handling facilities.

The same day includes a demonstration of low-stress livestock handling, led by Chris Schnachtschneider, livestock and rangeland specialist at Oregon State University Extension, with comments from Grandin.

Reducing animal stress and managing livestock more effectively allows ranchers to reduce bruising and injuries and stop weight loss that reduces the value of the animal.

“And it’s just more humane, as well,” said Doug Warnock of Roots of Resilience, the organizers.

North Dakota rancher Gabe Brown will speak on the first day of the conference about integrating animals into his no-till crop production. The animals provide natural fertilizer, improve soil health and increase Brown’s production and profit, Warnock said.

Warnock said he hopes people who attend leave thinking about ways they can use what they learned to be better land and livestock managers.