KINNEYCOUNTYAG/WILDLIFENEWSLETTER

The Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Office for

Kinney County, NRCS, and the West Nueces Las

Moras SWCD will be moving to a new office at

117 RR 693 in Bracke ville over the

coming months.

FISH SALE DISTRICT

RESOURCE INVESTMENTS

CALL 563-2414 OR

563-2442 TO ORDER

2018 AGRICULTURAL SYMPOSIUM Putting Money Back in Your Pocket Sponsored by: Capital Farm Credit

Where: Uvalde County Fairplex When: April 17, 2018 8:00 AM

Registration & Breakfast: 7:30 to 8:15 AM CEU’s: Three (1 General, 1 IPM, 1 Laws & Regs)

Cost: $20 includes Breakfast and Lunch Register or RSVP online at: kinneyextension.ticketleap.com/agsymposium/

or Call us to RSVP at 830-563-2442

————————————————————————————————2018 AG SYMPOSIUM TOPICS The Forgotten Goat-Since cattle are the main livestock enterprise in Texas, they are the typical focus for most educational programs. Learn about the goat, another excellent meat animal, and considerations for managing a herd. Alternative Ranching Operations-Review some options for adding to an existing conventional ranch or developing value-added programs to increase profitability. Tips for Stretching Your Dollar in Forage Production-Highlighting ways to increase the efficiency of inputs in improved pasture and hay production, including species/variety selection, fertility management, and weed control. Internal and External Parasites in Livestock-Review parasites that could decrease cattle productivity, how and when to treat them, and preventative measures to take. Cost Saving Tips for Brush Control-Management of brush can be an expensive endeavor. This session will review a few ways you can reduce your cost through thoughtful follow-up treatments, equipment ideas, and chemical selection. Protecting Your Investment in Cotton and Grain Production-This will be a discussion of the options for managing the most problematic weeds in cotton and grain with a combination of both older and new weed management technologies. Potential Profitability of No-Till VS. Conventional Cotton & Grain Sorghum-An evaluation of potential yields and profitability of conventional vs. no-till cultivation, practices in dryland cotton and grain sorghum in South Texas. Auxin Applicator Training-This training is now required for anyone (pesticide license holders and workers making applications under the supervision of a li-censed applicator) who will be applying the dicamba-containing products Xtendi-Max, Engenia, or FeXapan in 2018.

March2018

Rangeland near Kerrville (Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service photo by Dr. Morgan Russell)

New AgriLife Extension range website, “How Grasses Grow,” now available Writer: Steve Byrns, 325-653-4576, s-byrns@tamu.edu Contact: Dr. Morgan Russell, 325-653-4576, Morgan.Russell@ag.tamu.edu

SAN ANGELO – “Native perennial grasses are the lifeblood of rangelands. Our livestock and wildlife species, ecosystem processes, and overall plant community function depend on our native grasses for numerous reasons. Learning about how grasses establish, reproduce, and sustain their species populations are key for any range manager.” Dr. Morgan Russell, AgriLife Extension range specialists at San Angelo, reminds each of us of this on the new website he developed.

“How Grasses Grow,” is a new resource for ranchers, land managers, and landowners,

and is now available through the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service. The multi-faceted site, https://agrilife.org/howgrassesgrow/, was developed by Dr. Morgan Russell. It features information on vegetative reproduction of perennial grasses, a brief description of West-Central Texas dominant grass bud banks, fire effects on representative warm and cool season grasses, and published journal articles on bud banks.

“This website is meant to help the viewer gain a deeper understanding of how grasses

grow, and the many differences existing among native and non-native, perennial grass species,” Russell said. The site serves as a database for species-specific information on some of the dominant grass species in Texas. The perennial grasses listed onsite are: Blue Grama, Buffalo Grass, Hairy Grama, Hall Panicum, Kleingrass, KR Bluestem, Little Bluestem, Purple Three awn, Sand Drop seed, Sideoats Grama, Silver Bluestem, Texas Winter grass, Vine Mesquite, and Western Wheatgrass. Bud bank basics, Fire Effects, and more are also included. Dr. Russell’s continuing goal with this project is to grow the website with more grass species information and make this unique information more readily available with a click or two of the mouse.

Each year a Predator Contest is sponsored by the Kinney County Wild-life Damage Management Association and Kinney County Wool and Mohair. All classes are verified at KCWM and they include: Bobcats/Mountain Lions, Coyotes/Red Foxes, Feral Hogs, and an Open Class. Four guns are given away each year and this year’s lucky win-ners were drawn on Monday, March 19, 2018, by Nancy Frerich for Kinney County Wool & Mohair, with Donna Schuster for the Kinney County Wildlife Damage Management Association. Kathryn Gose witnessed and recorded the results. Alvin McClure won a 223 rifle in the Bobcat/Mountain Lion class, Patrick Ortiz won a 243 rifle in the Coyote and Red Fox class, Christine King won a 22-250 rifle in the Feral Hog class, and Mike Titus won a 6.5 Creedmoor in the Open class. The Predator Contest for 2018/19 is already in progress and will revolve around the same classes. There is no entry fee to enter any predator class, except the open class and that takes a $5.00 donation. The verification process takes place at Kinney County Wool and Mohair. This year’s contest will conclude in March of 2019. For a complete set of rules inquire at Kinney County Wool and Mohair or email kin-ney@ag.tamu.edu. Predator control is an important issue for livestock and wildlife in Kinney County. Thanks to all who participated and work to control predator populations in this county. Congratulations to all the winners for 2017/18! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

TEXAS CATTLEWOMEN — WOMEN IN RANCHING May 26 & 27 at the NRS Ranch and Event Center in Decatur, Texas Registra on Fee is $150 and the deadline is May 1, 2018. Register at www. Txca lewomen.org

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Be an Arundo Control Hero: For help in making an Arundo management plan, call (512) 389‐4444 and ask for an aqua c invasive specialist, or email HealthyCreeks@tpwd.texas.gov.

KINNEY COUNTY

JUNIOR LIVESTOCK

SHOW

2018

This year’s awards show and sale is one for the

records coming in at over around $110,000! Thank

you to all the Board, donors, workers, 4‐H’ers and FFA’ers who made it

the best show ever!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

TRAINING FOR PRIVATE PESTICIDE

APPLICATOR LICENSEES—Austin

CEU training at the Travis

County Extension Office for

Private Pes cide Applicator

licensees. In conjunc on with

the Corpus Chris Specialists,

Travis County will be offering

CEU training that will piggy‐

back on their 17 April, 2018

Ag Symposium webinar.

The Travis County program

will add an addi onal IPM

credit for a total of

three (3) CEU credits

(1 General & 2 IPM). Begins

at 8:00 am and runs through

12:15 pm. Cost is $25

KINNEY COUNTY PREDATOR CONTEST RESULTS FOR 2017

AgriLife Extension offers publications for wildfire preparation, safety Writer: Kay Ledbetter, 806-677-5608, skledbetter@ag.tamu.edu Contacts: Dr. Tim Steffens, 806-651-2781, tsteffens@wtamu.edu Dr. Morgan Russell, 325-653-4576, morgan.russell@ag.tamu.edu Two publications covering wildfire behavior and emergency responses that can help protect property and lives when wildfire occurs were recently released by Steffens; Dr. Morgan Russell, AgriLife Extension range specialist, San Angelo; and Kathryn Radicke, a graduate research assistant at Texas Tech University. Wildfire Behavior and Emergency Response and Safeguarding Against Wildfire were added to the AgriLife Extension Bookstore, https://www.agrilifebookstore.org, under the search term “wildfire.” Russell also has a Wildfire Ready Checklist fact sheet to help landowners develop a profile specific to their property.

Steffens said last year’s fires might have scared some people away from the idea of conducting prescribed burns on their property, but others have learned they are a tool. “You can have a say about how big and intense the fire is and where it will be on your property with a prescribed fire,” he said. “The more we have prescribed burning, the better we can manage fuel loads and it will make fighting the wildfires easier.” “Prescribed burning and grazing are two important processes and tools to manage volatile fuel loads in fire-dominated ecosystems, such as the Panhandle,” Russell said. “The best way to prepare for fire is to incorporate fire into a ranch management plan, like you would drought or a grazing rotation.” The publications provide information to help landowners increase the fire resistance of buildings, develop defensible spaces, and manage fuel loads and fuel breaks. When wildfire is a threat, one fact sheet offers these steps: – Plan ahead to help keep calm, think clearly, and act decisively and correctly in the face of rapidly changing conditions. – Use news coverage, scanners, telephones and mass alerts to stay informed regarding fire front locations, weather conditions and forecasts, and rate of fire spread to plan well in advance based on current and potential fire behavior. – Prepare for escape that may be required on short notice. – Follow instructions of professional fire-fighting personnel quickly and accurately. – Identify escape routes and safety zones, and make them known to others well before the fire approaches.

Kinney County Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service

602 East Military Hwy P.O. Box 266

Bracke ville, Texas 78832 830‐563‐2442

EmilyGrant

ExtensionAgent

817‐995‐0765

Contact us via email:

kinney@ag.tamu.edu

Emily.Grant@agnet.tamu.edu

Look for the us on Facebook at:

www.facebook.com

/KinneyExtension/

Kinney County Website

h p://kinney.agrilife.org/

Follow these and other stories

on: h ps://today.agrilife.org/

A prescribed burn official monitors the low and slow flames that creep along grassland in a controlled burn on a ranch north of Amarillo. (Texas A&M AgriLife photo by Kay Ledbetter)