ALICE – The annual Jim Wells County Ranch Field Day will be held this year at the new joint facilities of the Shimer Land and Cattle Company and the Wishbone Cattle Company north of Alice.
The field day will be from 8 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Sept. 3 at the facilities located on the west side of U.S. Highway 281, a mile north of Farm-to-Market Road 2044.
It is sponsored by the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service and the Jim Wells County Beef Committee. Admission is $10 payable at the door. One and a half Texas Department of Agriculture continuing education units will be available.
“We’ll have both indoor and outdoor sessions this year, and depending on the number of participants, we may form two groups to avoid overcrowding the indoor session,” said Rogelio Mercado, AgriLife Extension agriculture agent for Jim Wells County.
In the case of an overflow crowd, indoor and outdoor sessions may run concurrently with presenters delivering their talks twice, he said.
“It’s very likely we could see a large turnout because of the many changes in the industry that ranchers want to learn about,” Mercado said. “To better accommodate everybody and have an accurate meal count, we’re asking those planning to attend to please RSVP by calling the AgriLife Extension office for Jim Wells County at 361-668-5705 by Sept. 1.”
Registration begins at 8 a.m.; the program begins at 8:45 a.m.
“This field day has a long-standing history of providing beef cattle producers here with timely information related to the many issues affecting their operations,” Mercado said. “Growers will want to know about the changing weather patterns, beef cattle markets that have dropped significantly and why, the fever tick quarantine zone expansion into our area and how to avoid contaminations.”
Mercado said producers will also want to know and discuss issues that may be presented on their behalf for consideration by the state legislative session in 2017.
“We’ll also have some live demonstrations on hay quality and selection, feral hog and coyote control as well as best management practices for beef calves,” he said. “This field day and clinic promises to be a very productive session that producers won’t want to miss.”
Topics and speakers include:
— El Nino Weather Update, Leroy Foerster, National Weather Service, Corpus Christi.
— Cattle Market Update, Mac Young, AgriLife Extension risk management specialist, Corpus Christi.
— Fever Tick Quarantine, Brodie Miller, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Alice.
— Landowner Issues, Bruce Hoffman, U.S. Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency, Robstown.
Field tour educational session topics and speakers include:
— Hay Quality and Selection, Josh McGinty, AgriLife Extension agronomist, Corpus Christi.
— Controlling Coyotes and Feral Hogs, J.M. Garcia, Texas Wildlife Services Program, Alice.
— Chute-Side Calf Best Management Practices, Joe Paschal, AgriLife Extension livestock specialist, Corpus Christi.
The day will end with lunch, door prize giveaways and evaluations.
For more information, contact Mercado at 361-668-5705 or email rx-mercado@tamu.edu .