This month, BEEF ventures into a new venue by partnering with the North American Limousin Foundation (NALF) on a series of Internet programs aimed at important cow-calf production and management topics. Called the “CyberCampfire,” there are two interactive programs planned for December.

The two free CyberCampfire webcasts will be hosted on DVAuction.com. The first — on Dec. 11 — will address crossbreeding strategies. The second, set for Dec. 18, will deal with bull-buying strategies. Both webcasts begin at 7 p.m. MST.

Participation in an interactive CyberCampfire producer-outreach webcast requires registration with DVAuction.com beforehand, and it's best to do so at least three hours before the event starts. When it's time for a webcast, registered site users simply return to the DVAuction.com home page and click the “View” button next to “North American Limousin Foundation” under “Today's Events.” There also will be a link on the NALF home page (www.nalf.org).

By the way, the “Programs” section of the NALF Web site includes an archive of the visuals, audio and supplemental materials from past webcasts.

Another information tool

BEEF magazine editors like to say we reach U.S. beef producers' information needs in three ways — in print, online and in person.

• The in-print venue, of course, is what you're reading on this page, and those of our 11 other monthly issues, as well as our special, single-topic issue published each Feb. 15. Incidentally, our 2008 issue will take an in-depth look at calf health from the prepartum cow through preconditioning.

• BEEF magazine's online reach comes via our four Web sites: www.beefmagazine.com, www.beefcowcalf.com, www.beefstockerusa.org, and www.americancowman.com. In addition, we offer a number of free electronic newsletters targeted at specific audiences. These include: BEEF Cow-Calf Weekly, BEEF Stocker Trends and American Cowman Update. You can sign up for any of these at www.beefmagazine.com.

• Meanwhile, the in-person approach is the latest way BEEF reaches out to readers. Our first annual BEEF Quality Summit debuted last year in Oklahoma City, OK. The second summit was staged just last month in Omaha, NE, where a roster of top national experts tackled the question of ethanol's effects on beef quality before an audience of 270 attendees.

The information was deep and insightful, the give and take was thought provoking, the food and accommodations were top-notch, and the hospitality of our Nebraska Cattlemen partners was warm and gracious. Watch for in-depth coverage in upcoming issues of BEEF and our newsletters.

But if you can't wait for the in-depth coverage, you can view 5- to 10-minute synopses of each presentation at www.beefmagazine.com. Produced by Purdue University blogger Phil Reid, the synopses include interviews with each speaker, as well as pertinent graphics from their presentations.

By the way, next year's summit is planned for late October in Colorado Springs, CO. I hope you'll consider joining us.