Winter feeding program for beef cattle producers in Overton Aug. 16

OVERTON – A program on the reduction of winter feeding by stockpiling warm-season forage and/or planting cool-season pastures is scheduled for Aug. 16 in Overton. The event is from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center, 1710 N. Farm-to-Market Road 3053. The cost is $60 per person if registered by Aug. 6 and $75 per person if registered by Aug. 14. Fees include lunch and all program materials. Two Texas Department of Agriculture continuing education units, one integrated pest management and one… Read More →

Texas Sheep and Goat Expo, annual field day schedules announced

By Susan Himes SAN ANGELO — The Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center in San Angelo has announced the schedule for the Texas Sheep and Goat Expo and the 46th annual Sheep and Goat Field Day. The two events historically attract participants nationwide and are the country’s largest sheep and goat events, said Robert Pritz, AgriLife Extension regional program leader, San Angelo. The free field day will be Aug.16 from 8-11:30 a.m. at the AgriLife center, 7887 U.S. Highway 87 N., San Angelo. The field day will… Read More →

Demonstrations to be featured at Texas A&M Beef Cattle Short Course

By Blair Fannin COLLEGE STATION – Fence building, brush control, live cattle handling and a carcass fabrication demonstration will be featured at the Texas A&M Beef Cattle Short Course Aug. 7 in College Station. The short course, which runs Aug. 5-7, is the largest beef educational event in the country and attracts more than 2,200 attendees annually. Capital Farm Credit is the lead sponsor. The short course features 24 sessions covering basic practices, new technologies and other important industry topics. These sessions provide participants with an opportunity to… Read More →

Commentary: Will reinstating horse slaughter in the U.S. improve horse welfare?

By Courtney L. Daigle It is in the best interest of the horse to reinstate horse slaughter for human consumption in the United States. Related: Horse Slaughter Ban Still A Hot Topic Here’s why: Abolition of horse slaughter in the United States for human consumption has eliminated one of the management tools needed to provide horses with good welfare. This legislative action has created an unwanted horse problem, and may result in horses being abandoned, abused, or neglected. Horse owners have fewer options to dispose of horses that are no longer wanted because… Read More →

Barbecue Summer Camp, 2019 edition

By Jeff SavellThe Barbecue Summer Camp, co-hosted by Foodways Texas and the Meat Science Program of the Department of Animal Science at Texas A&M University, was held on Friday, June 7th through Sunday, June 9th, 2019. The camp is coordinated by meat science educators, Davey Griffin, Ray Riley, and Jeff Savell, and activities were held at the Rosenthal Meat Center and O.D. Butler Animal Science Teaching, Research, and Extension Complex. This was the tenth Barbecue Summer Camp with the first one held in 2011, and two of them held in 2016. Introductions to Barbecue Summer Camp… Read More →

PEER Hosts Annual State FFA Veterinary Science Career Development Event

Story by: Torri Whitaker, PEER Program Content Specialist On May 4, the Texas A&M PEER Program, in cooperation with the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences (CVM), hosted the eighth annual State FFA Veterinary Science Career Development Event (CDE). Dr. Glennon Mays, CVM director of recruiting and student services, welcomed FFA students and highlighted the many veterinary-related careers. Students participating in this state level event had to first qualify by placing within the top five teams at regional competitions. The State FFA Veterinary Science CDE… Read More →

Increased Oversight for Antibiotic Use

By Todd Carroll When the first antibiotic, penicillin, was developed in 1929, discussions began about different bacteria being able to become resistant to the drug. Those discussions continue today for the different antibiotics used to treat human beings as well as animals, and the FDA is now talking about increasing the oversight that veterinarians have in the use of antibiotics to treat animals. Thomas Hairgrove is a Texas A&M AgriLife Extension veterinarian. “There’s a five-year plan that FDA’s talking about and one of the things in that five-year… Read More →

Barbecue Summer Camp 2019

Video by Mark Guerrero, Texas A&M University Division of Marketing & Communications Every Summer, Texas A&M University hosts a three day intensive camp on the history, science, and best practices of Texas barbecue, in association with Foodways Texas. “As an Aggie, barbecue summer camp means coming back home,” Southside Market & Barbeque owner Bryan Bracewellsaid. “I get to come back to the place where I learned everything I know about barbecue. A lot of my education about the meat industry and barbecue, came inside this building, not only in… Read More →

Youth track to be featured as part of Texas A&M Beef Cattle Short Course

By Blair Fannin COLLEGE STATION – The Texas A&M Beef Cattle Short Course Aug. 5-7 at Texas A&M University in College Station will include a youth track featuring a number of educational sessions. A tour of the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences will be one of the highlights along with a meat laboratory experience that includes smoking cooked beef products. The youth track program is open to students ages 13 to 18 and is limited to 45 registrants. Early registration is encouraged to secure… Read More →

Passion for agriculture

By Ashley Ross While some residents are spending their summer vacation swimming in the pool, traveling with family or even relaxing at home, one local young man is spending the next couple of months learning more about his favorite subject: agriculture. Merrick Irvin, a 2017 Godley High School alum, is participating in a summer internship with the National Association of Wheat Growers in Washington D.C. Irvin was one of 13 students selected for the program through the Agriculture and National Resources Policy’s internship program with Texas A&M University…. Read More →