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Livestock and forage education year-in-review by AgriLife’s Mario Villarino

Livestock and forage education year-in-review by AgriLife’s Mario Villarino
  • PublishedDecember 14, 2022


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RELEVANCE

Livestock and forage production are a 3.96 billion dollars industry in the Central Region. Livestock and forage enterprises  are affected  by climate  and market variability. Hopkins County currently has more than 100,000 head of cattle with 27,000 head of dairy cattle. Due to environmental  requirements  of federal and state authorities, Hopkins County dairy operators must maintain environmental requirements for operation. 

RESPONSE

This plan collaborated  with dairy (Dairy Farmers  of America, Southwest  Dairy Museum) and beef organizations (NETBIO ) to determine and conduct educational efforts needed for the successful operation of livestock farms and ranches . This plan had the goal of providing  educational  experiences  to 350 beef producers, 150 private applicators  , 60 dairy producers  and 60 landowner  seeking private applicator accreditation.

The plan included the following activities:

•      Hopkins-Rains Hay Show (with Soil Conservation Board) (15 Participants).

•      Prairie Day  (150 participants)(Presenter)(Yantis Texas).

•      4 New Pesticide Applicators Trainings (quarterly)( 36 participants).

•      Cattle Trail in Beef Day (111 Participants).

•      Dairy Outreach Fall Conference (13 Participants).

•      Pesticide Private Applicator CEU (82 Participants).

•      34 Press releases (digital and printed media).

•      Result Demonstration in pre-conditioning of beef cattle.

•      1,455 Telephone consultations.

•      423 Site visits.

Evaluation  Strategy


Retrospective post evaluation surveys were utilized to measure knowledge gain and adoptions of best practices for the evaluated programs.

 •  100% (111/111) participants completed the evaluation for the Cattle Trail.

•   38% (5/13) participants completed the evaluation for the Dairy Outreach  Fall Conference.

•  85% (70/82) participants completed the evaluation survey for Pesticide Private Applicator CEU.

RESULTS

2022 Cattle Trail

•    100% (111/111) have a better understanding  of the steps beef goes before consumers.

•    100% (111/111) have a better understanding of the different parts of beef.

•    100% (111/111) have a better understanding of the importance of ranching in Texas.

•    100% (111/111) have a better understanding of products made of beef.

•    99% (110/111) have a better understanding of the economic impact of beef in their county.

2022 Dairy Outreach Fall Conference

•    60% (3/5) attendees indicated economic benefit from this activity.

•    100% (5/5) attendees indicated this activity to be valuable to network with experts and other participants.

•    100% (5/5) attendees indicated to be completely satisfied with the activities presented in this conference.

2022 Pesticide Private Applicator CEU

•   93% (65/70) plan to take actions or make  changes as a results of the knowledge gained during the conference.

•    93% (65/70) anticipate benefitting economically as a direct result of what their learned from this activity.

For  More  Information:

Dr.  Mario  Villarino

CEA Ag/NR

Hopkins County

903-885-3443

m-villarino@tamu.edu

Extension programs of Texas AgriLife Extension Service are open to all people without regard to race, color, sex, religion, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or any other classification protected by federal, state or local law The Texas A&M University System, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the County Commissioners Courts of Texas

For more information on this or any other agricultural topic please contact the Hopkins County Extension Office at 903-885-3443 or email me at m-villarino@tamu.edu.

Contributed by Mario Villarino

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Written By
Taylor Nye

Taylor Nye is the editor of Front Porch News. She has degrees from the University of Wisconsin in human biology, Latin American studies, and public health. She has previously worked at the Wisconsin State Journal, Tucson Weekly and Sulphur Springs News-Telegram. As a sixth generation Hopkins County resident, she loves celebrating our heritage and history.