Farm & Ranch
Ranch technology to be spotlighted at Texas A&M Beef Cattle Short Course Aug. 7-9
Beef cattle production event expected to draw 1,900 to Bryan-College Station
The 69th annual Texas A&M Beef Cattle Short Course in Bryan-College Station will offer some cutting-edge information and ranch technology, along with basic beef cattle production information.
The 69th annual Beef Cattle Short Course will introduce cattle producers to new technology designed to help improve overall profitability. (Texas A&M AgriLife photo by Sam Craft)
The annual event is set for Aug. 7-9, with more than 1,900 cattle producers expected to come to the Texas A&M University campus, making it the largest event of its kind in the nation. The event is hosted by the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service and the Texas A&M College of Agriculture and Life Sciences’ Department of Animal Science.
Both in-person and online attendance is offered. The cost is $260 for in-person attendance and $160 for online if registered by Aug. 2. The price will increase to $300 after that date. To register, go to https://tx.ag/BCSC23Reg or call 979-845-6931 for more information.
Jason Cleere, Ph.D., conference coordinator and AgriLife Extension beef cattle specialist in the Department of Animal Science, Bryan-College Station, said they have made a special effort to highlight advancing ranch technology this year.
“We added a session specifically dedicated to beef cattle technologies,” Cleere said. “Some topics include precision livestock data management, cattle electronic monitoring and artificial intelligence on the ranch. As more data is collected on ranches, ranchers need ways to manage it to improve profitability.”
There are also several new companies that will showcase their technologies during the trade show, Cleere said. More than 140 companies are expected at this year’s trade show, he noted.
“We believe this year’s Beef Cattle Short Course offering is shaping up to be one of the best ever, and the interest from ranchers thus far has been great,” Cleere said.
Embracing ranch technology to improve profitability
The special session on technology will be from 8 a.m. to noon on Aug. 8 as a part of the Cattleman’s College sessions. The following are the topics and speakers:
- Optimizing Ranch Profitability by Managing Your Livestock, Grazing and Team All in One Place — Coby Buck, AgriWebb director of strategic accounts, Wray Ranch, Wray, Colorado.
- The Intersection of Technology and Genetic Acceleration: Shaping a Sustainable Beef Industry — Kerryann Kocher, CEO and co-founder of Vytelle, Kansas City.
- Leveraging Drones for Cattle Management: How, What and Why? — Meir Ginsburg, CattleQuants co-founder and director of business development, Cleveland, Ohio.
- Computer Vision for Animal Care — Geoffrey Shmigelsky, co-founder of OneCup AI, Vancouver.
- The Possibilities of Ranch Tech and the Role of Remote Monitoring — Andrew Coppin, Ranchbot Monitoring Solutions, co-founder and CEO, Sydney, Australia.
From horses to grazing management to cattle nutrition
Before the three days of activities surrounding beef cattle, the annual Ranch Horse Program will be Aug. 6 in the Hildebrand Equine Complex. Registration is included within the full Beef Cattle Short Course registration, or individuals can attend just this event for $60.
More than 50 hours of training will be offered in the Cattleman’s College, featuring 20 concurrent sessions, with topics including animal health, nutrition, reproduction, breeding, genetics, selection, research, marketing and handling. The management sessions will cover business, forage, range and purebred cattle, landowner issues and fence building.
The course will also offer attendees 10 Texas Department of Agriculture pesticide continuing education units and 15 veterinarian continuing education credits.
By Barry Whitworth, DVM
At the writing of this article, High Path Avian Influenza (HPAI) H5N1 has been detected in more than 83 million domestic poultry in the United States. The outbreak includes commercial and backyard flocks.
Most people are aware that poultry may succumb to Avian Influenza but may not know that other animals can be infected with the virus. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, a variety of mammals have been infected with Avian Influenza H5N1 in the U.S.
The list of more than 200 mammals includes bears, foxes, skunks, coyotes, etc. Even marine animals such as dolphins and seals have been found with the virus. Current Avian Influenza H5N1 infections in poultry, mammals, and livestock in the U.S. can be found at the Detections of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza website at https://www.aphis.usda.gov/livestock-poultry-disease/avian/avian-influenza/hpai-detections.
Recently, ruminants have been diagnosed with Avian Influenza H5N1 in the U.S. The World Organization for Animal Health reported that neonatal goats displaying neurological clinical signs and death were positive for Avian Influenza.
To read more, pick up a copy of the May issue of NTFR magazine. To subscribe by mail, call 940-872-5922.
By Rayford Pullen | [email protected]
When May arrives, we start thinking about weed control. With two years of drought under our belts, grass grazed short and hay stocks depleted, what we do now will influence our forage conditions for the entire year. With 75 percent of our annual warm season forages made by July 15 in North Texas, we need to get the grass growing while the sun shines.
Speaking of the sun shining, the biggest deterrent to growing lots of grass is restricted sunlight, and the biggest sun blockers we have are weeds.
Have you noticed weeds are normally just slightly taller than your grass and are probably blocking 90 percent of the sunlight from reaching the grass itself? So obviously, we need to improve conditions, so sunlight reaches the plants we want to grow.
With grass extremely short, more sunlight is hitting the soil surface now, which in turn results in more weed seed germinating. With the moisture we have received, we expect an abundance of weeds this year.
To read more, pick up a copy of the May issue of NTFR magazine. To subscribe by mail, call 940-872-5922.
By Jared Groce
Rural land sales are continuing on a steady pace for early spring, with prices holding very strong with the sell-to-list price ratios remaining very high, even on properties that have been on the market for a longer than usual time period. The total number of transactions are picking up once again as the spring selling season kicks off, and the average acreage continues to decrease.
Larger acreage properties seem to be in higher demand than smaller properties currently, with many buyers simply parking cash in real estate to hedge against inflation. Interest rates seem to have settled down and most experts agree that rates will be reduced by the fed this year. Some lenders have programs in place that allow the buyer to reduce their rates without having to go through a full refinance ordeal.
To read more, pick up a copy of the May issue of NTFR magazine. To subscribe by mail, call 940-872-5922.
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