|
|
Conception to Consumption with an International Flavor - The Beef Cattle Industry in Montana
and Beyond
Multidisciplinary Seminar - Spring 2000
Course Objective:
To examine the beef industry and its interface with modern scientific techniques designed to improve the efficiency
and quality of the beef product. Learn how biotechnology has effected the entire beef production system from conception
to the grocery store and influence of international markets and competitors.
The course will conclude with an 8 to 10 day trop to Colorado followed by a trip to the Pampas of Argentina to
meet with our customers (purchasers of breeding stock) and competitors (exporters of fat cattle) in an international
setting.
Topics of weekly seminars:
The Purebred Industry: Performance and breed associations and their role domestically
and internationally. Marketing of purebred cattle; marketing genes, that’s what is really being sold. Biotechnology
in the cattle business; artificial insemination, embryo transfer, cloning, and in vitro fertilization. Discussion
of the potential for genetic changes and international movement of genetic materials.
The Commercial Industry: The complexities of managing livestock in a sustainable ecosystem.
Marketing in a global economy. The Feedlot; where the commercial cattle from Montana go to be finished for the
consumer. Beyond the feedlot; international markets and packer concentration.
Field Trip: The class goes to Colorado and Argentina |
|
