Loose Ends

The Taylor County Extension office is offering a one-day packer/feeder marketing seminar on Thursday, May 13 at their office.

This workshop involves a simulation of the fed cattle market where participants play the role of feedlot marketing manager and meat packing plant cattle buyer. A large portion of the game involves interactions among teams in the trading of cattle. It compresses one week's worth of real-time trading into five-to-eight minute trading sessions.

The program begins at 9 a.m. and ends at 4 p.m. Registration for the course is $25 per person and includes lunch. Couples are encouraged to attend and will be charged only one registration fee.

More information is available from Gary Bomar at (915) 672-6048.

*****

The second annual West Texas deer study group will gather in Albany at the Aztec Theater June 3-4. The program will focus on deer management in the Rolling Plains.

The second day, participants will tour the Stasney-Cook Ranch and learn what they're doing in terms of deer management on their operation.

Registration begins at 1 p.m. on Thursday and the two-day event will conclude at 2:30 on Friday. Participants may pre-register by sending a check for $20 payable to "West Texas Deer Study Group" to Greg Simons, PO Box 5121, San Angelo, TX 76902. More information is available from Dale Rollins at (915) 653-4576 or d-rollins@tamu.edu. Pre-registration will be accepted until June 1; registration after that is $30 payable at the door.

*****

Cattle raisers in East Texas have an opportunity to participate in a localized version of Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association's School for Successful Ranching. The program will be May 22 at Sam Houston State University's Gibb's Ranch from 9 a.m. until 2:30 p.m.

The program will be tailored to the needs of East Texas producers. Topics include minerals and supplements for East Texas, weed and insect control for pastures, and tips on proper administration of animal health products and how that's related to beef quality. Also featured will be sound crossbreeding systems and a horse identification demonstration.

The school is open to the public and a free lunch will be served. There is no charge to attend; however, to help organizers plan, participants are asked to RSVP to TSCRA's voice mail reservation system at (800) 242-7820 ext. 192. More information is available from Sharla Ishmael, ext. 134, or Todd Tippett, ext. 145, at (800) 242-7820 or (817) 332-7155.

*****

A South Texas beef cattle "SPA" workshop is set for June 2-3 in San Antonio.

The Standardized Performance Analysis (SPA) provides ranchers an opportunity to analyze their ranch operation from both a production and financial side. SPA facilitates the comparison of an operation's performance between years, producers, production regions and production systems. SPA is intended to be an annual tool for the cow-calf producer.

This intensive workshop will help ranchers complete the analysis for their 1998 calf crop. Registered operators will be sent forms to organize data before the conference. Confidentiality of producers will be maintained. Individual conferences will be held with producers. Each ranch will be provided an assistant and a computer during the seminar.

The registration fee is $150 per ranch and includes the software, educational materials, meals and refreshments. A discounted rate of $100 per ranch is available for ranches which have completed the analysis in the past.

Overall coordination of SPA workshops is handled by Dr. Jim McGrann. The following website offers a program description and registration material: ttp://agecoext.tamu.edu/irm-spa-spa.htm. McGrann may be contacted at (409) 845-1861.

More information regarding the San Antonio workshop is available from Extension economist Joe Pena, Uvalde, at (830) 278-9151.

*****

Winners from the San Antonio Livestock Exposition's new goat carcass show this past February were: Grand champion goat shown by Beau Shilling, George West; reserve champion exhibited by Lacey Braswell of Junction.

The grand champion carcass weighed 105 pounds, had an adjusted 12th rib thickness of .08 inch, and had a ribeye area of 2.35 square inches. Shilling's goat was also the grand champion live goat at the show.

The reserve champion carcass weighed 98 pounds, had an adjusted 12th rib fat thickness of .07 inch, and had a ribeye area of 2.55 square inches.

Results from the San Angelo Stock show lamb and goat carcass show have also been tabulated.

Topping the lamb carcass show was a finewool owned by Uvalde 4-Her Kris Ede. The lamb weighed 109 pounds and had an adjusted 12th ribeye area of 3.5 square inches; the carcass graded low prime.

Topping the goat carcass competition was an animal raised by Cole Lange of Runnels County. The 4-Her's animal was processed at 82 pounds, had an adjusted 12th rib fat thickness of .08 and a ribeye area of 2.3 square inches. The carcass graded low choice.