Steve Byrns, 325-653-4576, s-byrns@tamu.edu
Contact: Dr. Charles “Butch” Taylor, 325-387-3168, angora@sonoratx.net, Pascual Hernandez, 325-387-3101, sutton-tx@tamu.edu or Dr. John Walker, 325-653-4576, jwalker@ag.tamu.edu
SONORA – Texas A&M AgriLife Research, the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service and Edwards Plateau landowners are hosting the second Neighbor Meeting Neighbor Spring Field Day April 12 at the AgriLife Research station at Sonora.
Registration will start at 8 a.m. and the program will begin at 9 a.m. The station is located on State Highway 55 between Sonora and Rocksprings.
The program is free, but donations will be accepted to defray the cost of the meal.
“This is a time for new landowners and those who may have been here for generations to meet each other, share a great meal, exchange ideas or concerns and maybe learn something they haven’t heard before,” said Dr. Charles “Butch” Taylor, the station’s superintendent. “The main goal though is to expose attendees to a variety of agricultural programs, businesses and ideas designed to assist them with proper land stewardship.”
Taylor said a program two years ago was well attended and well received, so with the influx of new landowners continuing across the Edwards Plateau, organizers felt the time was right for another such program.
“Though the target audience will be new landowners, the educational topics we’ll offer should be of interest to a good number of traditional landowners,” Taylor said. “The field day format will be short five-minute overviews of six topics. Then we will have four 30-minute round-table discussions where people can ask questions, express concerns, etc. Thus each attendee can pick four topics that most interest them and get more information on those specific topics.”
The general topics and those presenting them will include:
– Water – Jim Polonis, manager for Sonora Water.
– Brush – Dr. Alan McGinty, retired AgriLife Extension range specialist, San Angelo.
– Fire Adaptive Landscapes – William McCrady, Texas A&M Forest Service fuels coordinator, Lufkin.
– Grazing Management – Frank Price, Sterling County rancher and 2014 winner of the National Cattlemen’s Foundation Environmental Stewardship Award.
– Predators – Stan Cottel, Rocksprings rancher.
– Taxes/Legislation – Joe Morris, former chief of staff for Senators Bill Sims and Jeff Wentworth, Austin.
After lunch, demonstrations will include solar water wells, fencing and off-the-grid electricity generation.
Two Texas Department of Agriculture continuing education units, one general and one integrated pest management, will be available for those with a valid private applicators license. Those seeking units are reminded that they must present their actual applicators license as a Texas drivers license can no longer be accepted.
More information can be found at: http://bit.ly/1mNknNN or contact Taylor at 325-387-3168, angora@sonoratx.net; Pascual Hernandez, AgriLife Extension agent in Sutton County, 325-387-3101, sutton-tx@tamu.edu, or Dr. John Walker, AgriLife Research resident director at San Angelo, 325-653-4576, jwalker@ag.tamu.edu.
-30-