SAN ANTONIO – One of the many benefits of attending the San Antonio International Farm and Ranch Show Nov. 8-9 will be the variety of educational opportunities offered, said the show’s educational coordinator.
“There will be many educational programs at this year’s show, as there have been in previous years,” said Bryan Davis, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service agent, Wilson County, who oversees the annual event’s educational programming. “Most of the programs are free and some offer Texas Department of Agriculture continuing education units.”
The show will be held at the San Antonio Livestock Exposition grounds, 3201 East Houston St.
Educational programming on Nov. 8 will focus mainly on land and natural resource management, including pond and pond predator management, as well as management of soils and cattle forage materials. Six continuing education units will be offered throughout the day.
Nov. 9 programs will include training and testing for private pesticide applicators, horse clinic, weed and brush identification program, and presentation on feral hog control. Three continuing education credits will be offered during the afternoon program.
“Another very informative and helpful program we’ll offer on the second day will be a youth livestock clinic,” Davis said. “We hope 4-H and FFA members will take advantage of this program, which will demonstrate the proper method for showing livestock and address many livestock care topics.”
He said topics to be covered at the clinic will include health management, feed and nutrition, animal grooming, showmanship and project selection.
“The clinic will be extremely useful for young people who are or plan to be involved in animal projects and/or showing animals in livestock shows in area or statewide venues,” Davis said. “It will be a rare opportunity to get a lot of information at one time from a variety of experts with decades of combined experience with different types of livestock.”
He said private applicator training and testing will take place from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. The cost is $40 for the materials and $10 for the training.
For more information on the applicator training, contact Davis at 830-393-7357 or by-davis@tamu.edu.
Show admission is free, but there is a $5 per day charge for parking on the show grounds.
For more information on the show, go to http://www.farmandranchexpo.com.
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