MONTE VISTA — The Southern Rocky Mountain Agriculture Conference (SRMAC) will be held at the Outcalt Event and Conference Center at SLV Ski Hi Complex on Feb. 6-8, and Temple Grandin is the keynote speaker.

Grandin is a world-renowned bestselling author and speaker on autism and animal behavior. Grandin is a professor of animal science and works for Colorado State University.

Grandin is set to present three unique educational sessions on Wednesday, Feb. 7. Grandin’s keynote presentation will be at 11 a.m. Grandin will speak about visual thinking. Her speech will include secret gifts of people who are visual thinkers through patterns and concepts.

Grandin’s second session will be held at 1:30 p.m. and will include tips and techniques on handling livestock. A panel discussion will also be held, but the time is yet to be determined for the discussion.

Grandin did not speak until she was 3 and a half years old. Grandin obtained her master’s in animal science while attending Arizona State University. She is known worldwide for developing and implementing specially handled livestock facilities.

Grandin designed a center track restrainer system for meat plants. Her system is curved and designed to help keep cattle calm and reduce stress while they are in a meat plant facility.

The Southern Rocky Mountain Agricultural Conference takes place once a year. Ag producers are always looking for more ways to enhance their knowledge, and skills in modern day agriculture works. The Southern Rocky Mountain Agriculture Conference features many work sessions, with many experts, who actively engage in every facet of the agriculture world and want to share their knowledge with local ag producers to help make the agriculture world thrive. The conference delivers applicable information and is put together by a collaborative effort of producers from the ag industry, including CSU Research professionals and the CSU Extension.

This educational conference showcases a wide variety of subjects for all different types of ag producers. Topics will include potato, livestock, and alfalfa handling, and soil and water management. There will be demonstrations with equipment, breakout sessions, and much more.

The conference is a 3-day event and will feature a trade show. It works through a committee with the Monte Vista Chamber of Commerce. Participants of the trade show can register for a single day or all three days.

The trade show will feature many vendors, who offer a wide variety of products and services to ag producers. Some vendors who attend are also sponsors of the show.

For more information, visit online agconferencesrm.com.