The Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service office for Bexar County will offer an online Back to the Basics Beef Cattle Series from April through October.
Classes in the series, hosted by Bexar Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee, will be presented via Microsoft Teams from noon to 2 p.m. on the designated date.
“While these classes are focused on beef cattle production in South Texas and the Texas Gulf Coast, anyone involved or interested in beef cattle production can participate,” said Sam Womble, AgriLife Extension agriculture and natural resources agent, Bexar County.
Scheduled dates for series classes are April 20, May 18, June 22, Sept. 21 and Oct. 19.
The cost is $15 per class or $45 for the entire series. Checks should be made payable to Bexar Ag/NR Committee and mailed to Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service, 3355 Cherry Ridge, Suite 212, San Antonio, TX 78230.
Once registered, a link for the upcoming class will be provided. An RSVP for each class is required and attendees should RSVP to Chris Lambert at [email protected].
April 20 will feature Joe Paschal, livestock specialist, Corpus Christi, talking about what beef cattle eat and why. The second part of this class will be about managing herd health with Tom Hairgrove, Bryan-College Station.
May 18 will feature the do’s and don’ts of using forages in a grazing system with Jason Banta, beef cattle specialist, Overton. Then Bob Lyons, range specialist, Uvalde, will discuss how to better understand carrying capacity and stocking rates.
For the June 22 class, Stan Bevers, retired economist, Vernon, will talk about managing input costs and how to tell if an operation is profitable.
Understanding winter supplementation options will be the subject of the Sept. 21 class with Banta and Vanessa Corriher-Olson, forage specialist, Overton, will talk about compare stockpiling grass versus feeding hay.
The final class in October will discuss the timing of marketing calves and cull cows with David Anderson, economist, and the importance of record keeping with Rick Machen, former livestock specialist, and Paul C. Genho, the Endowed Chair in Ranch Management for the King Ranch Institute for Ranch Management.
