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Range management specialists featured at January meetingsKansas A lineup of heavy hitters in the field of rangeland management will converge on north central Kansas for a series of meetings in January. Leading off will be A.B. Cox, a third generation rancher from the Nebraska Sand Hills, followed by Dr. Sam Fuhlendorf, Professor of Landscape and Fire Ecology at Oklahoma State University. The third spot in the order will be filled by Dr. Fred Provenza, an internationally acclaimed expert in animal behavior and management from Utah State University. The first meeting in the series will take place Jan. 13 at the North Central Kansas Technical College in Beloit, with registration beginning at 12:30 p.m., and the program running from 1 p.m. to about 4 p.m. The featured speaker at this gathering, A.B. Cox, received the 2008 Leopold Conservation Award presented by the Nebraska Cattlemen's Association and the Sand County Foundation for extraordinary achievement in voluntary conservation. For more than one hundred years, his family has ranched in Cherry County, Nebraska. The operation now runs cow-calf pairs and yearlings on about 23,000 acres of native range on sand hill uplands and sub-irrigated wet meadows. As vice-president of the Sand Hills Task Force, a rancher driven non-profit organization dedicated to enhancing the sand hill wetland/grassland ecosystem, he has hosted workshops, tours, clinics and schools to promote conservation education. Cox manages his ranch with a holistic philosophy that seeks to make the whole greater than the sum of the parts. His presentation will focus on the evaluation, planning and management necessary to improve rangeland health while sustaining a profitable ranching operation. Fire, used with expertise gained through experience, is an important tool employed to enhance vegetative diversity, wildlife habitat and livestock production. Harvesting forages with cattle rather than equipment reduces costs. The second installment in this series will be held Jan. 20 at 1 p.m., at the North Central Kansas Technical College in Beloit with registration starting at 12:30 p.m., and the program running from 1 p.m. until about 4 p.m. Dr. Fuhlendorf will discuss alternative rangeland management strategies that emphasize fire disturbance, grazing, and rest. Dr. Fuhlendorf has successfully used fire to create rotationally grazed patches without fences across the state of Oklahoma. The final meeting will take place Jan. 30 at 1 p.m., at the Ellsworth High School, with Dr. Provenza focusing on behavior based livestock management and the importance of plant diversity in rangeland ecosystems. His research has provided thought provoking insights into the link between people and the health and condition of soils, through plants and herbivores. All interested rangeland owners and operators are invited to attend. However, seating space is limited, so advance registration will be necessary at least one week prior to each date. A registration fee of $5 for the first two meetings and $10 for the third will be charged. Contact the Lincoln County Conservation District at 785-524-4482 to register or to obtain more information. The series is sponsored by the Smoky Hills Graziers Association.
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