t. rarlgelarn mn, ,gemenT sk ls


 1 \ [hen new Extension agents in
 Texas are bombarded with
questions about stocking rates and
forage monitoring, they find out how
little they know about a subject area
crucial to their clients. Rangeland
management is not covered in animal
science or agricultural education
curricula. That educational shortage is
becoming even more crucial now that
ranchers are looking to reduce variable
costs such as chemical applications for
woody plant control.
 J. F. Cadenhead and Richard
Teague of the Texas A&M Research
and Extension Center in Vernon
designed a crash course in rangeland
management to address that knowl-
edge gap. The course consisted of
three workshops held on working




Breaking c

 lan DeRamus of the Univer
 sity of Southwestern Louisi-
ana began with a survey of what
would-be graziers wanted to learn
when he designed a management
intensive grazing training program.
Producers and agricultural advisors
from Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkan-
sas, Texas, Georgia, Alabama and
Kentucky ranked the following as the
major constraints against establishing
intensive grazing management.

 1. Personal management expertise
 of livestock and forages
 2. Fencing systems
 3. Operating capital
 4. Soil fertility
 5. Water availability
 6. Livestock working facilities

 The training team of grazing
experts from Louisiana, Oklahoma
and Iowa, produced a three-day
program to address such con-
straints in both classroom and field
sessions. The program was
conducted four times in 1995, with
new sessions scheduled for May
and September 1996.


 ranches in July and October 1995
 and March 1996. The time between
 sessions allowed agents to put their
 new knowledge into practice and
 bring questions back to the next
 session. The ranch locations
 allowed practical outdoor exercises
 such as range plant identification
 and monitoring of the forage
 supply and demand.
 Topics included not only plant
 identification and rangeland
 monitoring but also stocking rate
 decisions, noxious plant management,
 prescribed burning, wildlife manage-
 ment and legal/ethical considerations
 for rangeland graziers.
 A compilation of materials related
 to rangeland management is being
 published as the Texas Range Man-




onstraints

 Each participant receives a
 notebook containing the follow-
 ing fact sheets:
 *The role of ruminant animals in
 sustainable agriculture
 *The forage growth and its relation
 ship to grazing management
 *Understanding soils and land
 scapes
 *Estimating forage yield
 *Grazing dynamics of beef cattle
 *Proper grazing use
 *Fringe benefits of rotational
 grazing


Participants fired up the range
during prescribed burning sessions

 agement Handbook. For information
 about the handbook or for more
 information about Project LST94-2
 contact Common Ground.




 to MIG




 *Economics of management
 intensive grazing

 To register for the May or Septem-
 ber workshops contact Alan DeRamus
 at the University of Southwestern
 Louisiana, (318) 231-6642. Request
 fact sheets for Project LST94-3 from
 Common Ground editor.



 The diversified
 farm at the
 University of
 SSouthwestern
 Louisiana was
 ideal for
 demonstrating
 management
 intensive grazing
 techniques. Photo
 by Emily King of
 Louisiana Farmer.


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Common Ground


Spring 1996


page 5