Multi-county cattle, range and wildlife event set May 28 in McLean

McLEAN – A Beef Cattle, Range and Wildlife workshop will be conducted May 28 by the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service offices in Gray, Carson, Armstrong and Wheeler counties.

“With the continued drought over the past four years and with no winter moisture, producers are having to adjust stocking rates on pastures,” said Brandon McGinty, AgriLife Extension agriculture and natural resources agent for Gray County. “Now the question is how much of the range has actually died.

“Also, do landowners need to be thinking about treating any brush species with the lack of moisture,or for some species is this the ideal time to work on controls?”

McGinty said some other things on the minds of ranchers are the Texas Beef Checkoff election, coming up June 2-6, and the issue of the lesser prairie chicken and how it being listed as threatened species would affect their operations.

The event, from 9 a.m. to 12:45 p.m., will be at the Red River Steakhouse, 101 W. Highway 66, McLean. Registration is $10, payable at the door.

The noon program will be on the Texas State Beef Checkoff by a Texas Cattle Feeders Association representative. Lunch will be provided by Panhandle Land Bank.

Program topics and speakers are:

- Stocking Rates on Native Rangeland, Dr. Ted McCollum, AgriLife Extension beef cattle specialist, Amarillo.

- Rangeland Recovery/Renovations, Dr. Tim Steffens, West Texas A&M University and AgriLife Extension range management specialist, Canyon.

- Lesser Prairie Chicken Habitat – What is it?, Jeff Bonner, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department technical guidance biologist, Pampa.

- What Now with the Lesser Prairie Chicken, Sean Kyle, Texas Parks and Wildlife wildlife diversity specialist, Lubbock.

Source: Agrilife