MANHATTAN, Kansas – The Beef Improvement Federation (BIF) board of directors along with the Florida 2020 BIF Research Symposium and Convention committee have been closely monitoring the COVID-19 situation, with particular consideration to its effect on this year’s convention.
“Due to increasing concerns around this evolving situation and standing by our commitment to keeping the safety of our participants, volunteers and partners as our top priority — we’ve made the decision to transition this year’s conference to an online format,” announces Tommy Clark, BIF president.
BIF leadership is in the process of planning an updated symposium online. At this time the virtual event will be hosted online the week of June 8.
“We realize beef producers still have cattle to breed and people to feed,” Clark explains. “Our mission as an organization is intact during this challenging time and we will continue to provide educational programing focused on how the beef industry can enhance value through genetic improvement. We are committed to providing learning opportunities that will help producers continue to improve their bottom line focused on beef improvement.”
The BIF Board sends well wishes to our beef industry family during this global pandemic. While details surrounding this transition are still taking shape, we are committed to providing an easily accessible, robust online conference experience that eliminates the health concerns which come with travel and face-to-face meetings at this time.
For details regarding the online conference as they develop, visit http://www.beefimprovement.org. Prior to and during this year’s symposium, be sure to follow the event on social media channels using the hashtag #BIF2020.
Individuals who have registered for the event will be refunded their registration in the next couple of weeks. Please contact the hotel to cancel room reservations. For those who booked flights, please contact your airline to check their refund policy for cancellations due to COVID-19.
“By transforming this into an online event, we’ll be doing our part to help promote the health of our country while also ensuring the members we serve are still able to have an engaging and meaningful conference experience,” Clark summarizes. “As an organization this also gives us a chance to expand our reach across the U.S. and world with our breed improvement message.”
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The Beef Improvement Federation (BIF) is an organization dedicated to coordinating all segments of the beef industry — from researchers and producers to retailers — in an effort to improve the efficiency, profitability and sustainability of beef production. The organization was initiated almost 70 years ago to encourage the use of objective measurements to evaluate beef cattle. Continuing the tradition, BIF is now the clearinghouse for developing standardized programs and methodologies for recording of performance data for all traits, from birth weights to carcass traits. Its three-leaf-clover logo symbolizes the link between industry, extension and research.