Brush Country Beef 706: Three-part series for beef cattle producers
Session locations will be Three Rivers, Floresville, College Station
Writer: Paul Schattenberg, 210-859-5752, paschattenberg@ag.tamu.edu
Contact: Warren Kopplin, 361-449-1703 or warren.kopplin@ag.tamu.edu
THREE RIVERS — The Texas Beef Council and the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service will present the Brush Country Beef 706 program, a three-part series of hands-on workshops and field trips focusing on beef quality management and marketing.
The series is geared toward beef cattle producers in Atascosa, Bee, Bexar, Karnes, La Salle, Live Oak, County, McMullen, San Patricio and Wilson counties, but other producers are welcome to participate, coordinators said.
“The series is a checkoff-funded program open to all beef cattle producers and is designed to help them maximize profits and have a better understanding of the production process after their cattle enter the feedyard,” said Dale Rankin, AgriLife Extension agriculture and natural resources agent, Atascosa County.
The first session will be May 3 at the Live Oak Livestock Auction, 3795 U.S. Highway 281, Three Rivers. The location is 4 miles south of Three Rivers or 6 miles north of George West on U.S. Highway 281.
“The program will begin at 5 p.m. with dinner, and attendees will hear from industry experts on issues affecting feeder calves and the value they receive at auction,” Rankin said. “As part of the program, producers will choose a calf to monitor through feedyard and packer sectors.”
Session two will be held Oct. 20 at Texana Feedyard, 3493 Farm-to-Market Road 539 in Floresville. The program begins with a feedlot tour at 9 a.m.
“During this session producers will get to review their cattle as finished market steers and learn about factors that impact feedyard performance and finished steer value,” Rankin said.
The third session, focused on the final aspects of beef processing, will be Oct. 29-30 at the Rosenthal Meat Science Center on the Texas A&M University campus in College Station.
Oct. 29 activities begin at 9 a.m. and conclude at 5 p.m. The following day’s activities begin at 7:30 a.m. and conclude at 1 p.m.
“This session will allow producers to participate in a hands-on exercise that takes their chosen feeder calves, now finished steers, from the first session through the harvest, grading and fabrication process,” Rankin said.
Beef Quality Assurance Credits will be offered over the course of the program to all interested participants.
The cost of the program will be $50 per participant for all three sessions and can be paid at the first session May 3. The cost is refundable based on full participation in the program.
For more information or to RSVP and register, contact Warren Kopplin at the AgriLife Extension office in Live Oak County at 361-449-1703 or warren.kopplin@ag.tamu.edu, or Rankin at 830-569-0034 or dw-rankin@tamu.edu.
