NRCS Part of 56th Annual Texas A&M Beef Cattle Short Course
NRCS Part of 56th Annual Texas A&M Beef Cattle Short Course
Story by Beverly Moseley
For more than 50 years beef producers have been traveling to College Station, Texas, to learn from industry experts about beef production and new technologies.
An estimated 1,300 people attended this year�s 56th Annual Texas A&M Beef Cattle Short Course held recently at the Texas A&M campus. More than 120 vendors participated in the event�s tradeshow.
New to this year�s forage management two-day workshop were speakers from the USDA�s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), who explained to attendees that private landowners could get free, expert advice from agency personnel such as range specialist, agronomist, soil scientist and engineers. Information on Farm Bill programs and how landowners can receive partial funding for implementing conservation practices on their land was also covered.
�NRCS can offer landowners a tremendous service that can and will prevent costly mistakes when it comes to resource management. A conservation plan can offer a roadmap to achieving the goals of a producer and meeting the needs of the land,� said Kent Ferguson, the state rangeland management specialist for NRCS. �This valuable service is the key to a successful resource management system. NRCS can also offer cost share opportunities that will aid producers as a supplement to the application on many conservation practices.�
More than 200 people attended the daily forage workshops. Texas AgriLife Extension specialists covered topics such as forage resource allocation and management strategies for East Texas, Southeast Texas, along with the Post Oak Savannah and Blackland Prairies.
At the tradeshow, Web Soil Survey demonstrations at the NRCS booth had a steady stream of visitors. Using the Internet, landowners were able to gain access to the soil survey site on a computer set up at the booth and find information on their property such as soil properties and qualities, along with suitabilities and limitations of targeted areas.
Other tradeshow exhibitors ranged from purebred cattle breeders and ranches, farm and ranch equipment companies, animal health and reproductive technology companies to beef industry publications.
�We felt that this year�s beef cattle short course was a success and we had a great turnout. We had a large variety of topics that were covered from soils to cattle working. By the number of comments received the participants were pleased with the short course in general,� said Jason Cleere, conference coordinator and Texas AgriLife Extension beef cattle specialist.
An estimated 1,300 people attended this year�s 56th Annual Texas A&M Beef Cattle Short Course held recently at Texas A&M University in College Station. Capacity crowds attended the event�s forage management two-day workshops.
Allen Smith, program liaison for the Natural Resources Conservation Service in Bryan, discusses Farm Bill program availability and requirements with attendees.
Rick Leopold, a Natural Resources Conservation Service conservation agronomist, visits with Kevin Counsil of Counsil Family Limousins about Web Soil Survey.
