Virginia forage conferences link animal and human health

Beef has periodically gotten a bad rap, but a speaker at an upcoming series of forage and grassland seminars believes beef is the real health food.

“Whether it’s milk or meat, isn’t this just a wonder of nature?” said Peter Ballerstedt in a 2014 presentation on the same topic in Arkansas. “High-quality animal protein and animal fat, made out of grass. Human beings can’t utilize that. We lack the necessary enzymes and digestive structures.”

Ballerstedt is the forage product manager of Barenbrug USA, an international grass seed research and marketing company. He is among speakers at the 2015 Virginia Winter Forage Conferences, which will be held Jan. 20-23.

Co-sponsored by Virginia Cooperative Extension, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Virginia Farm Bureau Federation, the conferences will be held Jan. 20 at the Weyers Cave Community Center in Augusta County; Jan. 21 at the Wytheville Community Center;Jan. 22 at the Olde Dominion Agricultural Complex in Chatham; and Jan. 23 at the Gordonsville Volunteer Fire Company Hall in Orange County.

For registration information, visit vaforages.org.