Farm & Ranch

[AgriLife Today] Livestock guardian dogs come to area ranches

Published

8 years ago

March 11, 2016

NTFR

By: Steve Byrns

Year-long project involves seven ranches, 22 dogs

Writer: Steve Byrns, 325-653-4576, [email protected]

Contact: Dr. Reid Redden, 325-653-4576, [email protected]

SAN ANGELO – The West Texas sheep and goat industry will soon be “going to the dogs” if a team of Texas A&M AgriLife experts has their way.

Dr. Reid Redden and Dr. John Tomecek, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service state sheep and goat specialist and wildlife specialist, respectively, and Dr. John Walker, Texas A&M AgriLife Research resident director, all of San Angelo, are heading a new year-long research project called “Understanding and Expanding the Use of Livestock Guardian Dogs in West Texas.”

“The goal is to place livestock guardian dogs on large West Texas ranches with ranchers who have never used them as a predator management tool,” Redden said.

Redden said 22 dogs, including two backups, arrived shortly after Jan. 1 from a professional livestock guardian dog breeder based in Montana. The dogs, specifically bred and raised to live with and guard sheep and goats, are composite crossbred animals comprised of five large breeds of dogs used for thousands of years for this purpose.

“Predation on sheep and goats on large West Texas operations is arguably that industry’s biggest problem,” Redden said. “For many ranchers, controlling predators has gotten to the point where it’s almost impossible to effectively conduct predator management by traditional lethal means. So we are looking at new tools for our area, and livestock guardian dogs are a tool that’s been used in other countries and elsewhere in the U.S., but it has not been used very much in West Texas. The main difference is management style, and this management style affects how the dogs work.”

Redden said the research project aims to investigate and work with cooperating ranchers, located from San Angelo west to Iraan and down to Del Rio, to better understand how livestock guardian dogs work in large expansive pastures.

“We have pastures in the project from between 500 and 5,000 acres,” Redden said. “These are large pastures where sheep can get scattered, making it easier for predators to do damage to the flock. It’s also difficult to spot a problem quickly in a large pasture, especially if it’s rough, brushy country as many West Texas pastures are.”

Redden said the dogs were placed with seven cooperators and on AgriLife property Walker directs. Some ranchers got two dogs and some got four. The dogs, all between six and ten months old and previously bonded with sheep, were placed on the ranches shortly after Jan. 1. Once the dogs were placed on an operation, they were put in a small pen to bond with the sheep on that operation. Then within a few days to a few weeks, they were put out into large pastures.

Throughout the year the dogs are being fitted with GPS collars to track their movements throughout the day and night to see how they are working as a predator management tool.

“The observations thus far on the project have been fairly positive,” Redden said. “Most of the cooperators we’ve talked to have had good luck with the guard dogs. There have been a few issues that needed to be addressed, which is common with guardian dogs. It requires effort and perseverance to make the program work. But we have not had any reported sheep losses from coyotes, the No. 1 predator in Texas.

“One rancher even commented since getting the dogs that he’s seeing ‘repeat appearances’ among his sheep. Before, when his ewes would leave with a lamb, many of those lambs were never seen again, but now he is seeing them again…thus they are making repeat appearances.

“Based on cooperator reports, the guardian dogs have changed the movement patterns among the predators. Overall, we think they are starting to show some real positive effects on all the ranches that we’ve put them on.”

The other part of the project Tomecek oversees centers around the use of game cameras left running throughout the year to measure the traffic of predators such as coyotes, foxes and feral hogs.

Tomecek noted the predator populations were camera-surveyed prior to the livestock guardian dogs being added and will continue to be surveyed throughout the year to understand how the dogs change the predator movement and patterns as the dogs move in and around the ranches.

“Primarily, these livestock guardian dogs are a tool that dissuade predators from getting in the livestock,” Redden said. “One of the things people think is that the dogs are aggressive and go out and kill predators, and that is very rare. Actually the dogs are bonded to the sheep, they stay with them. They are part of the flock, while at the same time they provide protection for the sheep.

“They bark throughout the night to warn predators to avoid the area. They dissuade them from harming the livestock, and the predators go back to their normal prey of mostly rabbits and other small rodents.”

Redden said from a personal standpoint that livestock guardian dogs have kept his family-owned sheep and goat operation going since the 1990s.

“They’re a fantastic tool,” he said. “They do take effort and work to get them implemented and bonded and working on the ranch. But I think it’s a fantastic return on the investment of time and money once guardian dogs are put into place and you understand how to use them and understand how they work. The peace of mind that predation is no longer a problem is the best benefit of all.”

The AgriLife team would like to see the program build industry knowledge and widespread acceptance of livestock guardian dogs. They hope the group of ranchers will evolve into livestock guardian dog ambassadors, willing to help others wanting to use the dogs to remain economically viable in the sheep and goat industry.

“The whole West Texas belief that loose dogs among sheep as always being a bad thing must change, because these dogs don’t behave as most dogs do and must be handled in a totally unique manner,” he said. “It will be a learning experience, not only for the producers involved with this work, but for the whole West Texas ranching community as well.”

For more information on livestock guardian dogs, go to http://sanangelo.tamu.edu/files/2013/08/Livestock-Guardian-Dogs1.pdf . Redden can be reached at 325-653-4576, extension 224 or [email protected] .

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Farm & Ranch

Land Market Report: March Land Sales

Published

1 day ago

May 2, 2024

NTFR

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.

Farm & Ranch

Texas FFA State Vice President Weston Parr

Published

2 days ago

May 1, 2024

NTFR

Future Farmers of America was founded by a group of farmers in 1928 with the mission of preparing the next generation of agriculture. It has done just that during its 95-year history, as the organization works to give back to others by following its motto, “learning to do, doing to learn, earning to live, living to serve.”

FFA is an organization made up of state associations, and at the helm of the Texas FFA is a team of 12 officers representing their respective areas within the Lone Star State. These individuals dedicate a year of their lives as they serve members, provide leadership, and work together with the state staff and board of directors to develop policy and lead the organization of over 177,000 members.

North Texas is represented by Area IV and Area IV, stretching from Wilbarger County to Bell County and from Runnels County to Grayson County. This year, those chosen to lead this great area are State President Isaac Hawkins Jr., Area IV, and State Vice President Weston Parr, Area V.

Parr is from the Sam Rayburn FFA chapter and the Area V Association, but the leader who now serves more than 19,100 members of Area V entered the FFA organization as a shy teenager who sat in the back of the room.

“I didn’t talk to a whole lot of people. I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life or where I could see myself, so I wasn’t involved on my high school campus,” Parr recalled.

“Then I started FFA and slowly but surely, my ag teachers worked me into attending more contests, meeting new people, and speaking. I remember the first time I gave an officer speech to my chapter. I can still remember how embarrassing it was. To see the progression from that moment to speaking on stage at the state convention in front of thousands of people. Now I feel like I can enter the industry I want and be successful all because of what FFA afforded me for five years.”

There is not much Parr did not do during his time in high school. His contest participation included chapter conducting, wool judging, cotton judging, wildlife, and job interview, but his favorite was extemporaneous speaking, which he did not start until his senior year of high school.

“I wish I could go back to my freshman, sophomore, and junior years and start that sooner. I think if I had more time, I would have been more successful than I already was, but that was something I didn’t realize I liked at the time. I’m not naturally somebody who likes to speak in public, but it was actually my favorite,” Parr said.

Parr won several awards during his time competing. In 2023 alone, Parr earned the Texas FFA Service-Learning Proficiency title, was a National FFA Service-Learning Proficiency finalist, and a Texas FFA Extemporaneous Speaking finalist. In addition to his CDE and LDE events during high school, he showed commercial steers at Houston, and boilers at most major shows, participated in the county show with projects in ag mechanics, showed goats from time to time, and showed heifers until graduation.

“FFA provides invaluable resources and knowledge to be successful once you leave high school and you are out of the blue jacket for the first time. I have been a part of a lot of great organizations over the years, and they are all great in their own way, but in my opinion, FFA is the most successful at producing members of society who want to go and do something with themselves,” Parr said.

He was halfway through his time as Area V Association President and attending the national convention when he began to ponder the idea of running for state office.

“This is around the time when you usually figure out if you want to go through and be a state officer or you decide that area officer is your last run. I was unsure of where I wanted to go, but I knew I didn’t want to be done with FFA. I decided maybe it would be a good opportunity not only for me to make more friendships and connections, but also to give back to the program that allowed me to be able to do what I can do today,” Parr explained.

To read more, pick up a copy of the May issue of NTFR magazine. To subscribe by mail, call 940-872-5922.

Farm & Ranch

Texas FFA State President Isaac Hawkins, Jr.

Published

2 days ago

May 1, 2024

NTFR

These young leaders share a drive to give back to the organization that has given to them as they work to support FFA members while preparing for a future in the agricultural industry.

From the 12 selected representatives, delegates elect a president and first vice president, with the remaining 10 serving as vice presidents from their respective area associations. The selection process consists of a popular vote by delegates at the state convention, which accounts for 40 percent of the decision, and a committee process that includes a written knowledge exam, worth 10 percent, and an interview, accounting for 50 percent. This year, after all was said and done, Hawkins was named this year’s Texas FFA President.

Hawkins grew up as part of a large, blended family with five sisters and three brothers. While he says he did not grow up in agriculture, his youth was spent outside fishing and doing all things outdoors with his father, whom he calls his best friend. As he entered Hirschi High School in Wichita Falls, Hawkins knew he wanted to be a vet but was unsure of what courses to take to set himself on that path.

“I signed up for ag principals just because they had animals in the description. The first day of class we talked about churning butter, and I went to my school counselor that same day and told her to change my schedule immediately, but she refused. She made me stay there,” Hawkins laughed. “Luckily, I had an incredible ag teacher, and she really helped me to fall in love with the program.”

To read more, pick up a copy of the May issue of NTFR magazine. To subscribe by mail, call 940-872-5922.