The 2021 Four-State Dairy Nutrition and Management Conference is going virtual this year. The event, to be held June 9-10, will allow attendees to learn the latest information in dairy nutrition and management but in a new format designed to improve participant experience.

Live morning sessions were designed to promote interaction and discussion between the participants and speakers. All presentations will be pre-recorded and will be made available to participants for viewing before the conference and for 60 days after the conference. General sessions will also have a live component with speakers providing a five-minute live summary of their recorded presentation. This will be followed by a 45-minute to one-hour question and discussion period between session speakers and participants. Participants are encouraged to watch the recorded presentation before the conference to formulate questions. Breakout sessions will not have a live component but will allow attendees to contact speakers directly with questions.

The June 9 morning session will feature Dr. Bill Weiss from Ohio State University discussing updated energy systems for dairy cows. Dr. Jim Drackley from University of Illinois will be explaining a new system for determining the nutrient requirements of young dairy calves. This will be followed by a panel discussion featuring Bill, Jim and nutritionists sharing their ideas of how we will be feeding cows in the future.

Sessions on June 10 will include a discussion on hypocalcemia treatment and prevention, featuring Dr. Jesse Goff from Iowa State University and Dr. Laura Hernandez from University of Wisconsin. Another morning session will focus on improving lactation performance using high digestible forage and feature Dr. Kan Kalscheur of the USDA Forage Research Center, who will discuss lactation research on reduced lignin alfalfa. Dr. Luiz Ferreretto, University of Wisconsin will discuss corn silage fiber digestibility.

Select breakout topics include:

For details and to register, visit http://fourstatedairy.org/. The conference is a collaborative effort between Iowa State University Extension, University of Illinois Extension, University of Minnesota Extension and University of Wisconsin-Extension.