A ranching clinic focusing on grazing management and effective stockmanship, including low stress cattle handling methods, will be held on Wed., Sept. 23 at the Brackenridge Park Main Event Center, 284 Brackenridge Parkway, in Edna, from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. The clinic will provide information on grazing land management, address range recovery from drought, as well as current issues and topics important to ranch management and beef production. The Coastal Prairies Grazing Lands Conservation Initiative (GLCI), USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and Texas AgriLife Extension Service are hosting the clinic.

The day will feature post drought grazing management strategies led by Mark Moseley, range management specialist with the NRCS, and managing beef cattle nutrition through a drought, led by Dr. Ron Gill, livestock specialist with Texas AgriLife Extension Service. Dr. Bob Hillman, Executive Director, Texas Animal Health Commission (TAHC) will provide an update on trichomoniasis and the cattle fever tick. He will also talk about the efforts of TAHC, NRCS and USDA-Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) to help ranchers fight the cattle fever tick.

NRCS officials will also be on hand to discuss getting technical assistance from range specialists as well as USDA programs, such as the Grasslands Reserve Program (GRP), which offers landowners financial incentives to restore, protect, and rehabilitate rangeland and pastureland. These programs can be particularly beneficial to landowners affected by drought. All NRCS technical and financial assistance are open to all persons without regard to any discriminatory factor, are offered without a fee and are voluntary.

Cattle producers can increase economic benefits by handling cattle properly. The afternoon program will be devoted to effective stockmanship techniques to increase profit and make livestock handling easier. The program will address basic principles of livestock behavior and learning how to use their instincts to accomplish your goals. Respected experts on cattle management, Curt Pate and Dr. Ron Gill will conduct this presentation.

Pate, from Newell, South Dakota has been conducting clinics, schools and demonstrations in effective stockmanship for several years. In addition he has practiced these skills in managing large yearling operations in Montana and South Dakota. Whether it be doctoring, gathering or sorting, Pate demonstrates how to handle cattle in a manner that minimizes stress, to save time and horsepower, while optimizing cattle productivity.

Gill, a lifelong cattleman and livestock specialist with Texas AgriLife Extension Service, has been teaching stockmanship across the country for the last three years. His interest in teaching these valuable tools has intensified over the years after seeing the performance and economic benefit from managing livestock behavior.

This clinic will start with registration and coffee at 8:30 a.m. It is co-sponsored by Texas GLCI, Victoria County Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD), DuPont Crop Protection, Victoria County Farm Bureau, Capital Farm Credit and Bayou Feed Barn.

The cost is $25 per person or $40 per couple, and includes lunch, exhibitors and the "Grazing Lands Stewardship" manual. For more information and to RSVP for this program by Sept. 18, contact Tim Reinke, at (361) 576-1129, ext. 3 or e-mail [email protected].

Persons with disabilities who require special accommodations and/or alternative means for communication of program information (Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.) associated with this meeting should contact Tim Reinke at least two weeks prior to the meeting with his/her specific request.