The Newsletter for the Center for Grazinglands and Ranch Management

225D Animal Industries Building,
College Station, Texas 77843-2126
Email: cgrm@tamu.edu
Website: http://cnrit.tamu.edu/cgrm
Phone: (409)862-7580 or 1-888-799-4442
November 1997, Vol. 1, No. 1

Center Staff:

What is the Center?
The Center for Grazinglands and Ranch Management was established in 1995 with a mission to provide a forum for a more effective interdisciplinary approach to developing and disseminating information, acquiring resources, promoting communication and identifying and solving problems faced by decision-makers involved in the management of grazingland, natural resources and the ranch enterprise. The objectives are to support and encourage interdisciplinary efforts in integrated grazinglands and ranch management within the Agriculture Program.

Why do we need a Center?
The reason we need a Center is that grazinglands are a highly significant resource to the people of Texas. Seventy one percent (111 million acres) of Texas' 157 million agricultural acres are rangeland and permanent pasture. These lands support the largest cattle, sheep, goat and whit-tailed deer herds in the nation. Feeder cattle and lambs, primary products for the Texas meat and animal industry, account for nearly one half of the total cash receipts generated by Texas agriculture. There are complex problems associated with themanagement of grazinglands that no single discipline or department can adequately address. The Center for Grazinglands and Ranch Management provides the synergy in meeting the diverse needs of our grazinglands to support the ecological needs of the environment as well as the economic and public needs of Texans.

How the Center works:
The Center draws upon the combined knowledge of the departments of Animal Science, Agricultural Economics, Rangeland Ecology and Management, Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences, Soil and Crop Sciences, Entomology, Recreation, Parks and Tourism Sciences, the College of Veterinary Medicine and the faculty within the Texas Agricultural Extension Service, the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station and other universities within the A&M system. The Center has also called upon some of Texas' most respected leaders in agribusiness. This Clientele Advisory Committee will provide input to identify current and future needs and opportunities for the Center. Communication with producers allows the Center to help focus interdisciplinary research and education to better meet their needs.

San Angelo

The first meeting of the three standing committees of the Center for Grazingland and Ranch Management (CGRM) was held in San Angelo, Texas October 14-15, 1997. The standing committees of the CGRM include the Steering Committee, the Faculty Advisory Committee and the Clientele Advisory Committee. The purpose of the meeting was 1.) to organize the Clientele Advisory Committee, 2.) to identify priorty issues of concern to grazingland producers and associated industries and 3.) to develop ways for the CGRM to effectively address these issues.

A brief welcoming session was held on the afternoon of October 14th. Dr. John Beverly, Associate Vice Chancellor, represented Dr. Ed Hiler, Vice Chancellor and Dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Texas A&M University, welcomed all of the committees and opened the meeting.

(L to R) Monte Rouquette, Carlos Griffen, John Cargile, Wesley West, and Darrell Ueckert
The committees then boarded a bus for a tour of the John Cargile ranch in Arden, Texas. The tour included presentations by Mr. Cargile, Dr. Tim Turner, President of the Texas Sheep and Goat Raisers Association, and Dr. John Walker, Resident Director of the San Angelo Research and Extension Center. Drs. Darrell Ueckert and Allan McGinty then discussed and demonstrated the "Brush Busters" and "Brush Sculptors" techniques for brush management and their philosophy on effective technology transfer and marketing techniques.

The general meeting began on October 15, 1997. The session set about identifying critical issues involving grazinglands and associated industries and organizations. Participants identified a broad range of issues and then condensed them into four major areas. These areas are: 1.) Interdisciplinary approach, 2.) Outreach, 3.) Implementation, and 4.) Research Topics. These topics were further discussed in smaller "breakout" groups to bring recommendations back to the entire group.

(L to R) Allen McGinty, Bryan Johnson, Bill Moyer, and Darrell Ueckert
The interdisciplinary group recommended that the Center continue to solicit contact pages from the faculty to use as a database of experts to answer questions from the public through the "Knowledge Seeker System". The Center should consider expanding their clientele committee to include a wider variety of businesses and small ranchers. Follow-up on the information given by the Center should be used to track user satisfaction.

The outreach group urged the Center to make available information understandable to the producer. It was suggested that the Center get a toll free number to reach those producers that do not have internet capabilities. (This has been completed.) For the Center to become the "voice of the grazingland industry", a newsletter and news releases will be utilized. Also the web page will publish "hot topics" that will be pro-active on important, high profile subjects. Feedback form clients was again mentioned as important to measure the effectiveness of the Center.

The group that discussed implementation recognized that the Center should not conflict with ongoing efforts of the Texas A&M Agriculture Program. The Center should provide a central place for information about ongoing programs and foster a complimentary relationship with other system components. County Agents as well as the Natural Resource Conservation Service should be key personnel in building awareness of the Center. The Center will be looked upon to "repackage" information to better educate the public in a "user friendly"or "laymans" language. It was recommended that the Center consider a small rancher as part of the Clientele Advisory committee since small producers have a great impact on production, as well as grazinglands management.

CGRM Committee members discussing rangeland diversity
The research group identified that producers want a "single stop" answer to multi-issue problems and want a place to alert the academic community, as well as others, to their specific research needs. The Center will be the "fueling ground" for current topics of concern to researchers for possible investigation. Since the Center has direct contact with the producer, it can utilize it's resources to initiate research were there are voids.

The meeting concluded with goals set for the Center and a plan-of-work to follow. A Steering Committee meeting has been planned for December 3, 1997 to discuss the San Angelo meeting and prioritize the Centers activities. Planning of the next meeting of all three standing committees will also be on the agenda.

(L to R) Ray Frisbee, Bill Holloway, Don Keeling, Carlos Griffin, and Kaare Remme
Clientele Advisory Committee
Ms. Claudia Ball, Mr. Austin Brown, Mr. Robert Bruner, Mr. John Cargile, Mr. F. G. Collard, Mr. James Donnell, Mr. Doak Elledge, Mr. Carlos Griffin, Mr. Steve Hartmann, Mr. Mike Hill, Mr. Don Keeling, Mr. James King, Mr. Ellis Klett, Mr. David Langford, Mr. Walter Lasley, Mr. Cullen Looney, Mr. Gary Mathis, Mr. Pat Mauritz, Mr. Ralph Mayer, Mr. Jim McAdams, Mr. James McCan, Mr. Kenneth McGee, Mr. Pierce Miller, Mr. Don Petty, Mr. Kaare Remme, Mr. Steve Roth, Ms. Karen Schneider, Mr. Jerry Stone, Dr. Jim Teer, Mr. Joe VanZandt, Mr. Pat Welder, Mr. Gene Willingham, Mr. Richard Winters

Steering Committee
Dr. Bob Brown, Mr. Gaylen Chandler, Mr. Darrell Dromgoole, Mr. Scott Durham, Dr. Ray Frisbie, Dr. Bill Holloway, Dr. Bryan Johnson, Dr. Charles Long, Dr. Bill Moyer, Dr. Charles Neeb, Dr. Gene Nelson, Dr. Don Robinson, Dr. Ed Runge, Dr. John Walker, Dr. Bob Whitson, Dr. Peter Witt

Faculty Committee
Dr. David Bade, Mr. Preston Faris, Dr. Tim Fulbright, Dr. Wayne Hanselka, Dr. Thomas Kasari, Mr. Scott Mauney, Dr. Ted McCollum, Dr. Jim McGrann, Dr. Monte Rouquette, Dr. Donny Steinbach, Dr. Jim Stribling, Dr. Pete Teel, Dr. James Turner, Dr. Darrell Ueckert, Dr. Roger Wittie

Director's Column

We hope you find this first edition of our newsletter useful. We will have a modest mailing list initially, but try and reach people inside and outside the A&M system that need to know about the Center and how we can interact with them and their organizations. Your ideas about the newsletter are important to us. Let us know how you feel.

Acknowledgment of Contribution
In early 1996, the McCoy and Remme families of San Marcos, represented by Mike, Emmett and Brian McCoy and Kaare Remme, gave the Center $50,000. One half of this money was dedicated to the Center as an unrestricted grant and the other half to Center programs conducted by Dr. Jim McGrann in the department of Agricultural Economics. The funds have made possible most of the Centers activities to date. The gift was given in the firm belief that the Center as now defined is very beneficial to the grazingland industry and that there is a critical need to recognize and implement the technologies that are available for good stewardship and sustainable management of grazingland resources.

Recently, the same family provided an additional $12,000 to the Center on the same basis as the original gift. The family did not want recognition for their gifts, but I want to acknowledge their generosity and the major difference it has made to the Center.

The recent meeting of our three Center committees in San Angelo was a milestone for the Center. It was the first meeting of the Clientele Advisory Committee and marked the beginning for this important group as the primary source of information for the Center about issues critical to the grazingland industry of Texas. Most importantly, we met our objective to provide guidance for the Center in ways that can best fulfill our mission.

We are excited at the Center. Much has happened since 1995. We have a new Assistant Director, Michelle Lee, and the Center has established the ground work for success. This newsletter is planned to be a quarterly publication highlighting the Center's activities. We hope it will increase in size to better serve the people of Texas.

Wayne Hamilton

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