SPRING 2021 CATTLE AND CARCASS TRAINING WEBINAR SERIES

JUNE 8 – 10, 2021

SUMMARY REPORT

OVERVIEW

In 2019, USDA established the USDA Cattle and Carcass Training Centers (CCTC) with three organizations strategically 

located across the U.S.: West Texas A&M University in Canyon, Texas; Colorado State University in Fort Collins, 

Colo.; and the USDA Meat Animal Research Center in Clay Center, Neb. In collaboration with these partners, AMS seeks 

to provide a variety of educational resources, events, and projects to support the beef industry’s knowledge and 

understanding of the cattle delivery system and the roles that producers, feeders, processors, and USDA play in bringing 

high quality American beef to market. 

Later that year, the first CCTC event was held- an in-person clinic at West Texas A&M in October 2019. Due to the 

COVID-19 pandemic that extended throughout 2020, the partners cancelled plans for another in-person event and 

instead delivered a 4-part webinar series in November-December 2020. The success of the Fall 2020 webinar serieswhich reached 433 individuals who participated live and thousands more who have watched the YouTube recordings, 

AMS made quick plans to conduct another webinar series in Spring of 2021. In response to feedback from the first 

webinar series, AMS chose to focus on USDA market reports for cattle—specifically the Livestock Mandatory Reports—

and how these resources can be used by producers, buyers, and sellers, for decision-making and to mitigate risk. The 

Spring series was held June 8-10, 2021.

PARTICANT SUMMARY

AMS anticipated a smaller audience for the Spring 2021 webinar series on LMR reports than for the previous series 

which covered more diverse and popular subject matters (USDA standards and grades, CME contracting, and the CME 

cattle delivery process). That said, registrations for the online event totaled 388 unique individuals, and over 160 

participants logged in for one or more of the live events. The event was promoted in a variety of ways, including 

GovDelivery, a USDA Blog, USDA Radio, social media, and direct outreach to industry contacts. For the first time, AMS 

reached out to the Extension Foundation to disseminate information about the event to Cooperative Extension 

professionals. 

After the series concluded, all registrants were encouraged to visit the USDA Cattle and Carcass Training Center website

(https://www.ams.usda.gov/grades-standards/beef/cattle-carcass-training-centers) where recordings and presentation 

materials are available for future reference. As of June 22, 2021, the YouTube videos have another 178 combined views. 

See summary below.

An AMS GovDelivery subscription topic is now available for CCTC communications, and we currently have 896

subscribers signed up to receive notifications about events and activities. Participants of the Spring webinar series were 

encouraged to complete a short survey to provide feedback on the event, subject matter, presenters/panelists, and 

other feedback to help AMS continue providing valuable information through CCTC programming. 

PARTICIPANT SURVEY RESULTS

25 individuals submitted responses to the participant survey, representing a 12.5% response rate. The results of the 

survey, including open-ended comments received for each query, are provided in Attachment 1. Overall, participants 
rated their experience with CCTC webinars very highly, rating them 4.64 out of 5 stars. The quality of the information 

presented as well as our presenters and panelists themselves, received 4.68 stars. 

Positive comments included:

- Great overview of available information and reports.

- Very diverse and good group of presenters.

- Day 3 speakers were best in class.

- THE Experts

Those who indicated room for improvement noted:

- The first two sessions were average, maybe it was because I use the reports often.

- Just a little fast for me but I managed to keep up, I think.

The above comments illustrate the challenge—and opportunity—that a diverse public audience presents, with some 

participants being fairly well-versed in the subject matters going into the webinars while others are just starting to learn 

or are being exposed to these topics for the first time. 

AMS TOPIC PRIORITIES

Future CCTC activities that are currently in discussion and/or planning phases:

1. Fall 2021 In-person Short Course: Cow Herd Management and Slaughter Cow Evaluation and Marketing – hosted

by WT

2. Fall 2021 In-person Short Course: Animal Handling and The Effects on Quality & Yield – hosted by CSU

3. Winter 2022 Webinar: Feeder Cattle Marketing and Evaluation –hosted with WT and industry stakeholder (Texas

Cattle Feeders Association)

4. TBD 2022 Webinar: How L&P and MARC Serve the Cattle Industry –MARC and L&P Division representatives.

5. TBD Webinar: Grading Dashboard and My Market News