Schumacher Day Featured Plenty of Useful Input for Local Ag Producers

Another large event that the Extension office holds annually is the Jim Schumacher Day event. This year’s event was held on Monday, January 29, at the Great Northern Hotel.

“It went absolutely fantastic,” Murphy said. “We had a great turnout of people. We had many different speakers.”

That day started with a presentation by Wendy Becker, who spoke about the Livestock Risk Protection Program.

“It is great for people to be aware that there are programs out there to help if situations happen,” Murphy said.

Hannah Speer, the Animal Science Specialist from the Northern Ag Research Center was another speaker that gave a presentation.

“She came in and talked about cattle nutrition, body score, what they require prior, during and post pregnancy,” Murphy said.

Megan Van Emon, the MSU Extension Beef Cattle Specialist also gave a presentation on cattle health and nutrition during lunch.

“It was pretty cool,” Murphy said. “They hit on a lot of the same things. It was the big information that needed to be hit on multiple times.”

Dr. McKenna Levesque, a Malta High Scholl Graduate, also gave a presentation on Johne’s Disease.

“It is becoming more and more prevalent unfortunately,” Murphy said. “It is something that our producers need to be more aware of. She did a fantastic job on that.”

Murphy went on to say that Johne’s Disease is something that cattle can have but not show symptoms until they are under stress, then it starts to slough.”

A new thing for Schumacher Day was a veterinary panel where locals were allowed to ask questions directly to veterinarian doctors.

“A lot of times we go to the vet and we are deadset on this specific thing of, ‘okay my animal needs to be spayed or neutered, or they need this shot, or they have to go in for a surgery, or whatever it may be,” Murphy said. “The vets got to bounce off of each other with ideas and information.”

Murphy said that the Phillips County Cattlewoman were a crucial part in the event by providing their cookies and other goodies at Jim Schumacher Day. The lunch was sponsored by the Malta Area Chamber of Commerce.

“It was a great event and definitely one of my favorites that I was a part of so far because education is a part of my background and I want to continue educating,” Murphy said.