The conference kicks off with the General Session, "Challenges Facing Animal Production", on Wednesday, September 19, at 1:00 pm. The session's keynote speaker, sponsored by Nutriad, is Robert Saik, Professional Agrologist and Certified Agricultural Consultant with Saik Management Group. He will speak on whether agriculture will be allowed to feed 9 billion people. Later in that session, challenges facing future animal production including how to work with environmental groups will be addressed. In addition, the role of gene editing and biotechnology breakthroughs in animal production will be explored.

We are also pleased to announce that complementing the General Session is the Pre-Conference Symposium "New Innovations for the Use of the Soybean", sponsored by the Minnesota Soybean Research and Promotion Council. The role of soybeans and soybean meal in the production of safe, abundant and healthy animal food products will be addressed. The Pre-Conference Symposium will be held from 8:30 am to noon on Thursday, September 19, at the same venue.

Species sessions (equine, non-ruminant and ruminant) are scheduled to start on Thursday, September 20 at 8:30 am. Amino acid nutrition, host-microbiome interactions, fine-tuning energy, protein and mineral requirements, and managing for reduced enteric emissions are among the topics to be covered in these sessions.

The Midwest Chapter of ARPAS will be hosting and providing monetary awards for the 3rd Graduate Student Poster Competition taking place during the conference. The competition is intended to facilitate the dissemination and presentation of research conducted by graduate students at universities in the Upper Midwest region. The competition encourages graduate education and creates networking opportunities with industry and academia.

Please don’t forget to join us on Wednesday evening (September 19) for a first-class Welcome Reception hosted by Alltech. Alltech is partnering with us yet again to help kick start and support networking during this event.

The Minnesota Nutrition Conference is intended for nutrition professionals, nutrition company management personnel, academics, and others with an interest in the nutrition and feeding of livestock. The committee and conference chairs are certain that attendees will greatly benefit by attending this year’s conference.

This annual conference would not be possible without the support of many sponsors. Through their sponsorship, these organizations demonstrate a commitment of improving financial and environmental sustainability and social responsibility in the production of animal products and care of livestock and companion animals. Sponsorship opportunities are still available!

For more information about the conference, session speakers, the graduate student poster competition, and sponsorships, please visit the conference website at www.mnnutritionconf.umn.edu/.