The award-winning David McKnight ’73 Ranch Management University is scheduled for Oct. 21-25 at the Scotts Miracle-Gro Turf Facility, 3100 F&B Road, in Bryan-College Station. 

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, Department of Agricultural Economics and the Department of Rangeland, Wildlife and Fisheries Management. It also involves the Natural Resources Institute, NRI, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service, NRCS.

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

Event details

The program is held each spring and fall with participants spending five days learning about a variety of ranch management topics ranging from soil fertility to forage and weed management to livestock and wildlife management. The cost is $625. Register online, or for more information, contact Linda Francis at linda.francis@ag.tamu.edu.

The program will begin at 11 a.m. on Oct. 21 and run from 7:15 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily until its conclusion at noon on Oct. 25. Meals and break refreshments will be provided as well as a resource flash drive containing over 250 publications addressing ranch resource management and a workbook of all presentations.

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

Speakers and topics

Day 1

• Soil Fertility, Soils in the Field – Jake Mowrer, Ph.D., AgriLife Extension state soil fertility specialist and associate professor in the Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, Bryan-College Station.
• Planning for Profit, Marketing Livestock – Cow-Calf? Stockers? Feedlot? – David Anderson, Ph.D., AgriLife Extension beef economist and professor in the Department of Agricultural Economics, Bryan-College Station.

Day 2

• Ag Laws Texas Landowners Need to Know – Tiffany Lashmet, J.D., AgriLife Extension agricultural law specialist and professor in the Department of Agricultural Economics, Amarillo.
• What is a Watershed? – Leanne Wiley, AgriLife Extension program specialist and Lone Star Healthy Streams program manager in the Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, Bryan-College Station.
• Structure of the U.S. Beef Industry, Genetic Strategies for Profitable Beef Production, Nutrient Requirements and Supplementation of Beef Cattle/Body Conditioning Scores, Animal Handling Demonstration, and Niche Marketing: Non-traditional Production Strategies – Jason Cleere, Ph.D., AgriLife Extension beef cattle specialist and associate professor in the Department of Animal Science, Bryan-College Station.

Day 3

• Horse Production 101 – Jennifer Zoller, Ph.D., AgriLife Extension equine specialist and associate professor in the Department of Animal Science, Bryan-College Station.
• Forage Establishment, Importance of Stocking Rate, Options for Wintering Cattle – Redmon.
• Small Ruminant Production – Jake Thorne, Ph.D., AgriLife Extension sheep and goat program specialist and assistant professor in the Department of Animal Science, San Angelo.
• Aquatic Vegetation Management Basics – Brittany Chesser, AgriLife Extension aquatic vegetation program specialist, Bryan-College Station.
• NRCS Programs for the Landowner – Jason Hohlt, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service range specialist, Bryan-College Station.

Day 4

• Using Wildlife as Agriculture for Property Tax Purposes, Northern Bobwhite Issues and Management, White-tailed Deer Management – Jim Cathey, Ph.D., professor and Texas A&M Natural Resources Institute associate director, Bryan-College Station.
• Feral Hog Issues/Trap Demonstration – Jay Long, NRI project coordinator.
• Management for Dove – Redmon/Cathey.
• Texas Well Owners Network, TWON: Well Informed – Joel Pigg, AgriLife Extension program specialist in the Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, Bryan-College Station.

Day 5

• Weed and Brush Management/Sprayer Calibration and Some Hay Considerations – Redmon.
• Basic Honeybees — Molly Keck, AgriLife Extension senior program specialist in the Department of Entomology, San Antonio.