Lincoln, Neb. —May is National Beef Month, and Nebraska Extension is celebrating the first anniversary of Tailgate Talks, a YouTube channel aimed at beef producers.
As part of the celebration, there will be a featured video message on the Tailgate Talks channel and a giveaway to its subscribers to commemorate the channel’s success and emphasize the importance of the beef industry in Nebraska, home to the top three beef cow counties in the U.S. — Cherry, Custer and Holt Counties.
Tailgate Talks, which launched last May when the pandemic hit, features informative videos on timely topics geared toward cattle producers and allied industry personnel.
Each topic is related to beef cattle management that points producers to available resources and additional information in a concise format.
“In today’s world, we have access to a wealth of information but limited time to consume it,” said Erin Laborie, Nebraska Extension beef systems educator.
“Since we were unable to do in-person programming with beef producers when the pandemic hit, we turned to other methods as a way to share research-based information, one of which was the development of the Tailgate Talks video segments,” Laborie said.
Past topics include drought management, nutrition, breeding and pregnancy in cows, fly control and backgrounding calves, among others. Videos are produced biweekly and last approximately two to three minutes.
“Time is one of our most valuable resources, and it can be challenging for beef producers to find the time to invest in continuing education,” Laborie, said.
Laborie is co-creator of Tailgate Talks along with Sydney O’Daniel, former Nebraska beef Extension educator.
Currently, videos are produced by Laborie and Hannah Greenwell, Nebraska beef Extension educator, as well as other invited Nebraska Extension educators who talk about topics related to their field.
To subscribe to Tailgate Talks, visit: https://go.unl.edu/tailgatetalks. For more information, contact Laborie at erin.laborie@unl.edu.