The award-winning Ranch Management University, scheduled Oct. 23-27 at Texas A&M University in Bryan-College Station, is open for registration with seating limited to the first 50 enrolled.

The workshop is a collaboration of the Texas A&M College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, Department of Animal Science and Department of Agricultural Economics and the Natural Resources Institute, NRI, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service.

Over the five days, participants will learn about a variety of ranch management topics ranging from soil fertility to forage and weed management to livestock and wildlife management.

The Ranch Management University is designed to give new or inexperienced ranchers and landowners a crash course on a lot of different subjects, said Larry Redmon, Ph.D., Department of Soil and Crop Sciences associate department head and Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service program leader, Bryan-College Station.

Registration is $625, and the deadline to register is Oct. 13. Register online, or for more information, go to Texas A&M University Ag Program Forages. To see if space remains, contact Linda Francis at [email protected].

Workshop attendees will meet at the G. Rollie White Visitor Center, 7707 Raymond Stotzer Parkway on the Texas A&M campus. The program will begin at 12:30 p.m. on Oct. 23 and run from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily until its conclusion at noon on Oct. 27.

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

Topics and speakers for each day will be:

AgriLife Extension experts from across the state will lead the instruction. Three general Texas Department of Agriculture continuing education units will be offered to attendees.

Day 1: Some Basics

  • Basic Soils, Soil Fertility, Soils in the Field – Jake Mowrer, Ph.D., AgriLife Extension state fertility specialist, Bryan-College Station.
  • Planning for Profit – David Anderson, Ph.D., AgriLife Extension livestock economist, Bryan-College Station.

Day 2: Cattle Raisin’

  • Structure of the U.S. Beef Industry, Nutrient Requirements and Supplementation of Beef Cattle/Body Condition Scores in Beef, Genetic Strategies for Profitable Production, Animal Handling Demonstration, Niche Marketing: Nontraditional Production Strategies – Jason Cleere, Ph.D., AgriLife Extension beef cattle specialist, Bryan-College Station.
  • What is a Watershed? – Leanne Wiley, AgriLife Extension program specialist and Lone Star Healthy Streams program manager, Bryan-College Station.
  • Marketing Livestock – Cow-Calf? Stockers? Feedlot? – Anderson.
  • Ag Laws Texas Landowners Need to Know – Tiffany Lashmet, J.D., AgriLife Extension agricultural law specialist, Amarillo.

Day 3: More Basics

  • Horse Production 101 – Jennifer Zoller, Ph.D., AgriLife Extension horse specialist, Bryan-College Station.
  • Texas Well Owners Network, TWON: Well Informed – Joel Pigg, AgriLife Extension program specialist, Bryan-College Station.
  • Forage Establishment, Forage Pests and Sampling Techniques, Reading the Pasture – Importance of Stocking Rate, Options for Wintering Cattle – Redmon.
  • Financial Assistance Programs from Natural Resources Conservation Service – Jason Hohlt, USDA-NRCS range specialist, Bryan.

Day 4: Wildlife on Your Property

  • Using Wildlife as Agriculture for Property Tax Proposes, Rio Grande Turkey Management and Managing for Dove – Jim Cathey, Ph.D., professor and NRI associate director, Bryan-College Station.
  • Hay Considerations, Weed and Brush Management – Redmon.
  • Beekeeping – Molly Keck, AgriLife Extension entomologist, Bexar County.
  • Feral Hog Issues/Trap Demonstration – Jay Long, NRI project coordinator.

Day 5: Additional Topics

  • Aquatic Vegetation Management Basics – Brittney Chesser, AgriLife Extension aquatic vegetation program specialist, Bryan-College Station.
  • White-tailed Deer Management and Northern Bobwhite Issues and Management – Cathey.
  • Floating Vimeo Video