Think a minute about the tools you use in your cattle operation to make you more efficient. It may be a horse, a John Deere tractor, a bale feeder, a feed wagon, a computer, or a cow-calf software program. You use different tools every day to make your ranch more efficient and profitable. A few of the tools that the subcommittee has developed are the IRM Redbook, a pocket sized record keeping book, and the Desk Record Book for more detailed information. A software program called DECI, or Decision Evaluator for the Cattle Industry, was developed at the Meat Animal Research Center in Clay Center, Nebraska, through efforts of subcommittee leadership to get funding at the federal level.
Education is another main focus.
The IRM subcommittee works closely with educators all over the United States through regional meetings to help assure that producers are receiving the knowledge they need. Tools like SPA and DECI are being used as teaching aids at the university level. States like Nebraska hold IRM symposiums to better educate producers. SPA workshops are held in many parts of the country each year to educate people about this tool. The Cattlemen s College, held each year at the NCBA annual and summer meetings, is an IRM subcommittee-sponsored event.