Kentucky has more beef cattle than any other state east of the Mississippi River. More than 1.1 million head of cattle graze the fields of the Bluegrass State. With that in mind, the University of Kentucky College of Agriculture cooperates with several agencies to offer educational opportunities to the state’s cattle producers. The Kentucky Stocker Conference is set for Sept. 27 at the Fayette County Cooperative Extension office in Lexington.

The conference will begin at 10 a.m. with a presentation from Bob Smith, a veterinarian with Veterinary Research and Consulting Services in Stillwater, Okla. He will talk about receiving health in stocker cattle. At 11 a.m., UK agricultural economist Kenny Burdine will discuss using futures and options trading.

After lunch, Burdine will lead a session on marketing stocker cattle in 2011 and 2012. Smith will lead the final discussion about managing stocker cattle. The event will wrap up at 3 p.m.

Registration is $10 at the door. Producers interested in attending should contact their local Cooperative Extension agent for more information.

The Fayette County Cooperative Extension office is located at 1140 Red Mile Place in Lexington. For more detailed directions, visit their website at http://ces.ca.uky.edu/fayette, or call 859-257-5582.

Sponsors of the 2011 Kentucky Stocker Conference are UK Cooperative Extension Service, Central Kentucky Ag Credit, Farm Credit Services, Kentucky Bank, Farmer’s Feed Mill/Hallway Feeds, Hinton Mills, Joe Lenahan, Wells Fargo Advisors, Bromagen Commodities and Cargill Animal Nutrition.