Beef Cattle Short Course team receives AgriLife Extension Superior Service Award
Writer: Blair Fannin, 979-845-2259, [email protected]
BRYAN – A team of animal science educators who coordinate the largest beef cattle program in the U.S. have received a Superior Service Award in the team category from the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service.
Superior Service Awards recognize AgriLife Extension faculty and staff members who provide outstanding performance in Extension education or other outstanding service to the organization and to Texans.
The award was presented Jan. 12 during the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Conference awards dinner at the Brazos Expo Center in Bryan.
Team members from College Station are: Dr. Jason Cleere, beef cattle specialist, conference director/coordinator; Dr. Ron Gill, beef cattle specialist and associate department head for animal science at Texas A&M University; Dr. Tom Hairgrove, livestock and food animal systems coordinator; Dr. Davey Griffin, meat specialist; and Dr. Dan Hale, meat specialist.
Other team members include: Dr. Jason Banta, beef cattle specialist, Overton; Dr. Bruce Carpenter, livestock specialist, Fort Stockton; Dr. Ted McCollum, beef cattle specialist, Amarillo; Dr. Rick Machen, livestock specialist, Uvalde; and Dr. Joe Paschal, livestock specialist, Corpus Christi.
The annual beef short course is a four-day event held in College Station. In 2015, the event attracted more than 1,700 beef cattle producers, ranging from novice to seasoned stockmen, who received cutting-edge information to take home and apply to their operations, according to the award nomination.
The economic impact of the educational events from the short course over the past five years is an estimated $37.5 million with more than 120 sessions offered.
Emerging issues addressed include drought management, beef quality assurance, judicious antibiotic use, import-export issues, emerging diseases, university research, animal welfare, meat science and youth programs for agriculture.
Donnell Brown of R.A. Brown Ranch in Throckmorton wrote in a letter of commendation, “I have never seen a program or event that so effectively attracts producers from all experience levels to continually participate. Each year I see seasoned veterans from large ranches with thousands of cows – like the King Ranch – to beginning producers who have retired from another career and are just getting started – to young people coming back to the family ranch. This team keeps the program diverse and interesting so that we can come back each year and learn new things while interacting with Extension specialists and university professors, as well as professionals in the business who share their experiences.”
