Released July 30, 2009
SAN ANGELO, Texas – The 36th annual Sheep and Goat Field Day conducted by the Texas AgriLife Research and Extension Center at San Angelo is set for Sept 3.
Registration starts at 8 a.m. with the program to begin at 9 a.m.
The center is located north of San Angelo on U.S. Hwy. 87.
“This year’s theme is ‘Ranching Solutions,' and we feel we will have several good ideas to offer,”said John Walker, the center’s resident director of research and a field day coordinator. “The morning program will center on production topics, and the afternoon will be devoted to updates from a number of industry leaders.”
Morning topics will include identification of poisonous plants and their subsequent symptoms in livestock, beneficial effects of plant-produced chemicals and genetic conservation of livestock.
“We’ll also have an interactive ram selection exercise designed to let our field day participants test their skills in picking rams visually and then by using the animals’ performance data,” Walker said. “It should be interesting to see how close their separate evaluations are. I expect there will be some surprises.”
The afternoon session will follow a catered lunch and will open with the results of a recent predator damage survey sent to sheep and goat producers earlier this year.
Organizations giving industry updates during the program include Producers’ Marketing Cooperative, Inc.; Texas Sheep and Goat Raisers’ Association; Mohair Council of America; American Sheep and Goat Center; Texas Wildlife Damage Management Service; Farm Service Agency; and the Natural Resources Conservation Service.
For more information contact the center at 325-653-4576.
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http://agnews.tamu.edu/showstory.php?id=1331
Source: John Walker, (325) 653-4576, jw-walker@tamu.edu
Writer: Steve Byrns, 325-653-4576
