Farm & Ranch
A change of PACE: Promoting Agriculture & Conservation Education
By staff Jessica Bartel
As rural kids, we like to run barefooted, make mud pies and play with bugs! The youngest of three, Lisa Bellows grew up in rural Saint Jo, Texas, doing just that. Bellows’ mother was a school teacher and her father farmed and ranched while also stock contracting rodeos. Her rural roots and child curiosity lead Bellows to her passion in life, nature.
“It’s just how I grew up,” that lead her to her occupation. “As a kid I always had a curiosity of nature. Dung beetles and earth worms fascinated me!” she said. Bellows has been a resident of Gainesville, Texas, for 31 years alongside her husband and son.
Bellows has been a professor in the Biology department at North Central Texas College for 21 years. Along with teaching General Biology, Zoology, Botany, and Environmental Science, she teaches one agriculture class a semester. Presently she teaches pasture management.
In an effort to promote agriculture and conservation education, Bellows devised a project known as the PACE which is an acronym for Promoting Agriculture and Conservation Education. The Pace is a project within the Josey Institute of Agroecological Studies at NCTC and is funded by the Dixon Water Foundation. A major focus of the Pace project is a field study located on property owned by Gainesville ISD and leased to NCTC. To read more pick up the May 2014 issue of North Texas Farm & Ranch.
By Barry Whitworth, DVM
Having backyard poultry is a popular agriculture enterprise. According to the United States Department of Agriculture, 0.8 percent of all households in the United States have chickens. People keep chickens for a variety of reasons with table eggs being one of the more common reasons.
Unfortunately, some of these poultry producers are not aware of the hazards that come with keeping poultry because many times they carry pathogens but appear healthy.
Chickens are carriers of several zoonotic diseases. These are diseases that can be passed from animals to humans. According to a recent survey in Pennsylvania, a majority of backyard poultry producers were aware of the dangers of avian influenza. However, this study also revealed that far fewer producers were aware of the risk of possible exposure to Salmonella and Campylobacter.
The lack of knowledge about the hazards of raising poultry likely contributes to the continued issues of Salmonella outbreaks associated with backyard poultry. In 2023, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 1,072 illnesses of Salmonella linked to backyard poultry, and 272 of those patients required hospitalization. Oklahoma reported 43 individuals with the disease.
To read more, pick up a copy of the April issue of NTFR magazine. To subscribe by mail, call 940-872-5922.
By Tressa Lawrence
Babies are tucked away in every nook and cranny. Many ranchers across Wyoming have baby animals popping up all over this time of year.
By Lindsey Monk
Another load of grain in to keep feeding the calves until the green grass can really start popping.
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