Upper Cumberland Beef Summit Tuesday To Focus On Key Trends

The Fifth Annual Upper Cumberland Beef Summit set for Tuesday, with beef suppliers encouraged to come and learn.

Between 250 and 300 producers from across the region attend each year. Van Buren UT Extension Agent Chris Binkley said the summit will focus on marketing this year.

“With recent droughts in the West and stuff and people liquidating some herds, our cattle numbers are the smallest they’ve been since the 1960s,” Binkley said. “So you know it’s a supply and demand market, with supply being lower demands going to be higher.”

Troy Applehans from Cattle Fax will be the featured speaker with more insight on what lies ahead for the beef industry. The summit takes place from 6-9pm at the Hyder Burks Ag Pavilion

Binkley said the agricultural economy remains an important driver in the region, especially in some of the smaller counties. Beef, for example, is one of Van Buren County’s more important products.

“We sat down and we try to identify a specific topic in the beef industry every year to try to give our producers some insight,” Binkley said. “This year we decided to focus on marketing because the beef cattle market’s on the upward trend which is great for cattle producers.”

Binkley said he’s seen the Beef Summit make a substantial difference in the lives of beef suppliers throughout the Upper Cumberland.

“If you’re a cattle producer, you know what they say ‘knowledge is power,’” Binkley said. “The more you understand how the beef battle market and industry works the better off you are.”

Binkley said the producers of the Upper Cumberland have said they look forward to the summit every year.