10:00-10:20 Wolf Reintroduction Plan – Matt Thorpe

10:20-10:40 Virtual Fencing – Eric McPhail

10:40-11:00 TRAC Data Report – Dr. Ryan Rhoades

11:00-11:20 Weather and Climate Outlook – Dr. Becky Bolinger

11:20-11:30 Break

11:30-11:50 Market Outlook – Katelyn McCullock

11:50-12:10 Trade-offs Between Individual Gains and Herd Gains with Increased Stock Density – Dr. John Ritten

12:10-1:00 Ruminant Nutrition – Dr. Shawn Archibeque

1:00-1:20 HPAI Update – Dr. Ragan Adams

1:20-1:30 Closing and Questions

Matt Thorpe | Colorado Parks and Wildlife Southwest Deputy Regional Manager

Matt Thorpe is the CPW SW Deputy Regional Manager and Wolf Reintroduction Management Team member for CPW.  He will be giving the latest status on the Wolf Reintroduction Management Plan. 

Eric McPhail | Western Region Extension Director

Eric McPhail currently serves as the Western Regional Director for Colorado State University Extension.  He came to Extension with a bachelor’s in animal science and a masters in ruminant nutrition. In addition, he brought 8 years of experience from managing a large commercial cattle and farm operation.  In his current role, he oversees around 65 staff members and the success of Extension programs serving 16 counties across Colorado’s Western Slope. Prior to his regional role, he served as the County Director 4-H Youth and Agricultural Agent in Gunnison County, Colorado for 16 years.  In this role, his position took many forms of educational outreach, but his principal responsibilities included program management focused on community development, agriculture, livestock, 4-H youth, horticulture, and family and consumer science education. Eric prides himself on building organizational and committee partnerships. He believes the balance of knowledge transfer and diverse service is where Extension can make the most impact in a community. Also, surrounding oneself with great teammates is a plus too. He loves the job, the people, and the mission of providing a helping resource, or hand, to anyone.

Ryan Rhoades, Ph.D. | Extension Beef Specialist

Dr. Rhoades is an Associate Professor and Beef Extension Specialist at Colorado State University. Previously, Ryan spent six years as a faculty member at the King Ranch^® Institute for Ranch Management in Kingsville, TX. Ryan received a Ph.D. in Beef Cattle Production at Texas A&M University. In his current position, Ryan is responsible for developing, prioritizing, and implementing innovative statewide beef extension programs based on the Colorado beef industry needs. He has also worked closely with several state and national beef industry organizations to assist with strategic planning and the development of producer training tools. Ryan, his wife Jacqueline, and three children (Ryder, Raegan, and Roxie) live in Wellington, CO where they own/operate a small direct to consumer beef business, Elevation Beef.

Becky Bolinger, Ph.D. | Assistant State Climatologist

Becky Bolinger is the Assistant State Climatologist at the Colorado Climate Center, Colorado State University. Her interests include climate variability, climate trends, climate prediction, the hydrologic cycle, water resources, and climate and drought monitoring. She has worked for three different climate centers, has experience with many different climate datasets, and has experience with research and applications in climate. Her expertise and passion is bridging the gap between climate research and decision-making applications.

Kaitlyn McCullock | Livestock Marketing Information Center Director

Katelyn McCullock is the Director and Senior Agricultural Economist at the Livestock Marketing Information Center. Katelyn has expertise in the cattle, hog, dairy, hay, and grain sectors covering market analysis and outlook. Katelyn has published through a variety of channels market analysis, research, and new articles. She has been a frequent presenter on the national and regional levels, as well as through rural media outlets.

Prior to joining LMIC, Katelyn worked in the Farm Credit System as well as in Washington, DC for American Farm Bureau Federation on livestock-related agricultural policy topics. She has a Masters in Agricultural Economics from Colorado State University and a Bachelor of Science from the University of Maine.

John Ritten, Ph.D. | Agricultural Economist and Extension Specialist

Dr. John Ritten is an agricultural economist at CSU and a member of the AgNext team.  He received a BS in Marketing from Arizona State University, an MBA from New Mexico State University, and a PhD in Natural Resource Economics from Colorado State University.  His research interests include the intersection of agricultural production and natural resource management.  Prior to joining AgNext, John served as the University of Wyoming’s state Agricultural Systems Extension specialist for 14 years. 

Shawn Archibeque, Ph.D. | Ruminant Nutritionist

Dr. Shawn Archibeque, a ruminant nutritionist, began his scientific training and education at Colorado State University, where he earned a B.S. with a double major in Environmental Health and Animal Sciences.  He continued his training as a ruminant nutritionist at North Carolina State University.  Following his M.S. Shawn earned a Ph.D. at Texas A&M with Dr. Stephen Smith, an expert in adipose development of livestock species.  Shawn conducted research with the meat science components of beef cattle production, and it enabled him to apply cellular and enzymatic-based mechanisms for describing nutritional manipulations of beef carcass quality.

Ragan Adams, DVM | Veterinary Extension Specialist

Ragan Adams, MA, DVM graduated from the University of Florida, College of Veterinary Medicine. After stints as an equine veterinarian in Florida, Maryland and Louisiana, she moved to Colorado where she has held various positions at CSU College of Veterinary Medicine and Biological Sciences.  In 2009 she joined the CSU Veterinary Extension Specialists team. In this position she became involved in many Extension teams where expertise in health and welfare of animals was needed but had not been previously available. Community animal disaster planning has been a major interest and she is a CSU delegate to the Extension Disaster Educational Network (EDEN), recently serving as the vice chair of the Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee. The importance of biosecurity to prevent animal and zoonotic infectious disease is another area of commitment and she works with underserved and small- scale producers as well as part on the CSU CERES Advisory TEAM.

Wolf Reintroduction Plan – Matt Thorpe

Virtual Fencing – Eric McPhail

T.R.A.C. Data Report – Dr. Ryan Rhoades

Weather and Climate Outlook – Dr. Becky Bolinger

Trade-offs Between Individual Gains and Herd Gains with Increased Stock Density – Dr. John Ritten