By: Kay Ledbetter

From soil management to cattle, forage and wildlife, the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service Ranch Management University Oct. 9-13 in College Station will offer a little something for everyone, according to coordinators.

The workshop will meet at the G. Rollie White Visitor Center, 7707 Raymond Stotzer Parkway on the Texas A&M University campus, said Dr. Larry Redmon, Texas A&M University soil and crop sciences associate department head and AgriLife Extension program leader, College Station.

Registration is $500, with attendance limited to the first 50 who enroll. To register online and for more information, go to http://agriliferegister.tamu.edu and enter “ranch management” into the search window.

The five-day event is designed to help new and novice landowners improve their understanding of resource management on their ranch properties, Redmon said.

He said topics to be covered include soil fertility and sampling; hay production, sampling and sprayer calibration; financial considerations and government programs; forage legume management and winter pasture establishment and utilization; beef nutrition requirements and supplements, body condition scores, stocking rates, marketing and genetic strategies for livestock; pond and wildlife management; horse production; and chute-side live-animal handling demonstrations.

Also, Redmon said, an entire day will be devoted to wildlife management, including using wildlife for agricultural property tax purposes. Some of the species to be covered include turkey, feral hogs, dove, white-tailed deer and bobwhite quail. The day will include farm pond management and a farm pond visit.

Speakers will be from Texas A&M University’s departments of soil and crop sciences, wildlife and fisheries, animal science and ag economics.

Meals and break refreshments will be provided. A resource flash drive containing over 100 publications covering ranch resource management will also be provided.

For additional information, contact Redmon at 979-845-4826 or l-redmon@tamu.edu  or Linda Francis at 979-845-2425 or l-francis@tamu.edu.