Young Brandon Reed of Ottumwa works with Simmental cattle and brought his cow and her triplets to the conference. The cow is one he showed as a 4-H heifer and he chose her out of 60 calves.

“I liked her color. And she was tame and white-faced,” he said.

With Reed were his parents, Penny and Randy Reed.

“Triplets happen once in 300,000 births,” Penny Reed said. “She had twins the first time.”

Three calves at once is phenomenal but Randy Reed has a practical spin on the event.

“It’s three times the groceries,” he said.

After many years in the extension service, Ottumwa Mayor Dale Uehling is a cow-calf conference veteran.

“I’m pleased things are going well. This facility is great,” he said. “The only negative thing is the weather.”

He was particularly pleased with the center’s break-out rooms and theater, which the Coliseum didn’t offer.

Jon Elbaum, BVC’s general manager, said “the conference was going great despite the weather.

“Everything lays out well in the exhibit hall and we had no problems with the animals,” he said.

The conference’s general sessions were in the theater, where both projection and sound systems performed well, Elbaum added.

Cindy Toopes can be reached at (641) 683-5376 or via e-mail at cindy@ottumwacourier.com.