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Practicum sessions provide livestock management toolsWisdom from a researcher who compiled information during visits to ranches about what makes high-profit producers will be among the information presented during the High Plains Ranch Practicum. The practicum, an educational program designed to give livestock producers successful management tools, will begin in June and end January 2008 and is sponsored by the University of Wyoming Cooperative Extension Service and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension. The eight-day, five-session, hands-on program over three seasons is designed to give participants the skills and application of management tools needed to be successful in today's complex ranching industry, said Dallas Mount, UW CES educator for Goshen, Laramie and Platte counties. Mount said attendees will enjoy the camaraderie with other participants and the more than 15 instructors and facilitators. Sessions will be at the UN-L Panhandle Research and Extension Center near Scottsbluff, Neb., and at the Jim Hageman Sustainable Agricultural Research and Extension Center near Lingle, Wyo. The course provides ranchers tools to understand and integrate four areas of ranch management: range and forage resources, range beef cow production, unit cost of production and cattle marketing. Participants in the High Plains Ranch Practicum will also benefit from instruction and current research from nationally recognized experts in range livestock production, financial management and marketing systems. They include Randy Hunter, Harlan Hughes and Trey Patterson. Patterson is the livestock manager for Padlock Ranch of northern Wyoming and southern Montana, a ranch that annually markets 12,000 calves. Hunter, from Wheatland, is with a group of veterinarians who consult with feedlots personnel on ways to improve animal health and performance. "Randy has found that animal handling is an underlying issue in many feedlots, and proper animal handling will result in a decrease in animal health problems and an increase in animal performance," said Mount. Hughes, a former UW CES educator, spent most of his career at North Dakota State University as an agriculture economics specialist. "Harlan spent much of his time doing kitchen table visits with ranchers," said Mount. "His mission was to find out what separates the high-profit producers from the low-profit producers." Hughes developed several tools to help ranchers evaluate the economic status of their operations, mostly focusing on determining the unit cost of production and comparing a herd's production benchmarks against benchmarks from other herds in a region. Hughes has published many articles in Beef Magazine and is nationally recognized in the area of beef cattle economics. He retired to Laramie and has a consulting business there. Mount said friendships and exchanges of ideas among participants will be some of the most-valued aspects of the program. High-quality educational materials are used in the program and include software, notebooks with laminated field guides and a collection of university publications. The practicum is limited to 35. Participants must submit an application form by May 1. A $500 fee covers materials, instructor costs and meals. An application and additional information is available at http://HPRanchPracticum.com. The course is an approved borrower training course by the Farm Service Agency and can be taken for credit through the UN-L. For more information or to obtain an application, contact Aaron Berger, UN-L extension educator, at 308-235-3122 or aberger2@unl.edu, Mount at 307-322-3667 or dmount@uwyo.edu, or visit the website. B 15 4/30/07 6 Star Midwest Ag Date: 4/25/07
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