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COMMISSIONERS' COURT AGENDA REQUEST
PLEASE FURNISH ONE ORIGINAL AND ONE (1) COPY OF THIS REQUEST
AND DOCUMENTS TO BE REVIEWED BY THE COURT
MADE BY: Roy Walston
OFFICE: Kerr County AgriLife Extension
MEETING DATE: November 23, 2009
TIME PREFERRED: 9:30 a.m.
SUBJECT: To discuss agriculture and natural resources summary for 2009
EXECUTIVE SESSION REQUESTED: (PLEASE STATE REASON)
NAME OF PERSON ADDRESSING THE COURT:
Roy Walston, County Extension Agent-AG/NR
ESTIMATED LENGTH OF PRESENTATION: 10-15 minutes
IF PERSONNEL MATTER -NAME OF EMPLOYEE:
Time for submitting this request for Court to assure that the matter is posted in
accordance with Title 5, Chapter 551 and 552, Government Code, is as follows:
Meeting scheduled for Mondays:
x:00 PM previous Tuesday
THIS REQUEST RECEIVED BY:
THIS RQUEST RECEIVED ON:
@ .M.
All Agenda Requests will be screened by the County Judge's Office to determine if adequate
information has been prepared for the Court's formal consideration and action at time of Court
Meetings. Your cooperation will be appreciated and contribute towards your request being
addressed at the earliest opportunity. See Agenda Request Rules Adopted by Commissioners'
Court.
~xx ~vuN t Y wtL1u1,1F>~ MANAGEMENT FQR
SMALL ACREAGE LANDOWNERS
Developed by
Roy Walston, County Extension Agent -Agriculture & Natural Resources -Kerr
County
With support from Kerr County Commissioners Court
Relevance
The 2009 Census indicates Ken County landownership with 1226
operations averaging 500 acres with a mean size of 105 acres totaling 706,117
acres of rangeland. Of these 1226 operations wildlife is a major priority in nearly
every operation to some extent. The goal of this program is for new landowners to
better understand wildlife and the constantly changing ecology in native
rangelands and how to monitor and manage these changes to better meet the goals
of their operation. This program is targeted at new landowner families with 1/3 of
those being absentee landowners. New landowner education was identified by the
Kerr County Livestock and Range committee to be a top priority relative to
wildlife management, stocking densities, forage evaluation, plant identii'ication
and utilization by livestock and native and exotic wildlife. With an abundance of
Kerr County landowners being relatively new to the ranching industry and range
management is one of their utmost concerns, educational. programs addressing
range management has proven to be a successful tool in addressing this issue.
Response
The Kerr County Extension Livestock & Range Committee developed the
following programs to address this issue.
Hill Country Wildlife Management Symposium
Ken County Extension Ag. & Natural Res. Committee hosted a
symposium in September with some 50 landowners attending to
hear speakers discuss wildlife management topics from intensive
white-tail deer management, habitat management, managing deer
through landowner cooperatives, eminent domain issues, managing
diseases in intensive managed deer operations, along with
marketing opportunities through Texas Department of Agriculture.
Educational programs of the Texas Agri Life Extension Service are open to all people without regard to race, color, sex, disability, religion, age, or national origin.
The Texas A&M University System, U.S_ Department of Agriculture, and the County Commissioners Courts of Texas Cooperating
WEST REG10N AGRICULTURE
AND NATURAL RESOURCES ~~~~>ri LIFE EXTENSION
Farm Pond Management Field-day
A multi-county Farm Pond Management Field-day was held in June with 45 landowners
attending the field-day. Dr. Michael Masser, Extension Wildlife Biologist presented a program
discussing the value of water quality, stocking farm ponds, population management and weed
identification and control. Management of farm ponds continue to be a maj or problem for landowners
with weed control being a primary concern to all pond owners.
Rainwater Harvest Workshop
Establishing a supplemental water source for wildlife or landscape plants on small acreage can
be cost prohibitive for many landowners. Through the use of rainbarrel collection systems,
supplemental water can help attract wildlife on small acreage while improving the habitat. Hill Country
Master Gardeners have promoted the building and use of rainbarrels in the landscape for just this
purpose. Following the initial workshop a total of 120 rainbarrels with a volume totaling over 6,600
gallons of rainwater could be collected.
Results
Hill Country Wildlife Management Seminar
Topic	Mean
Before-After	% Increase in
knowled e
Understand the condemnation of land rocess	1.50-3.50	133.3
Understand role of landowner cooperatives in wildlife population
mana ement	1. $2-3.27	80.0
Understand the importance of plants under high fence management	2.40 - 3.45	43.4
Understand what to look for when identi in lams for deer	2.27 - 3.14	38.0
Understand roles of various agencies in assisting landowners with
wildlife mana ement	2.00-2.72	36.4
Understand how to maintain a healthy rangeland on my ranch for wildlife	2.54 - 3.40	33.9
Understand the trade-offs in hi fencin ro	3.00 - 3.31	10.6
Farm Pond Management Field -dav
TOpiC	Mean
Before -After	% Increase in
Knowled e
Understand Control Measures for A uatic Weed Control	1.94-4.05	108.3
Understand fish stockin rocedures	2.27-4.27	88.1
Understand im rtance of catch records	1.89-3.29	74.3
Understand im rtance of water uali	2.86-4.27	48.9
Rainwater Harvesting Workshop
Topics	Mean	% Increase in
	Before -After	Knowled e
Understand how to make a rain barrel and how to set it u and use it	1.33-3.93	195.0
Understanding of a basic rainwater catchment system including how	2.53-3.86	52.6
much ou can catch and the arts of a rain collections stem		
Understand where to find out more information and who can help	2.33-3.33	42.9
with our current water supply and how to capture and use more		
rainwater		
Understanding the many uses of rainwater including landscape use	2.67-3.80	42.5
and rainwater for birds, wildlife, livestock and in-home use		
I TnrlPrctandinv critical iccnes faninn water rniantity and rniality	~ n-'~ Rt1	2h 7
Educational programs of the Texas Agrilife Extension Service are open to all people without regard to race, color, sex, disability, religion, age, or national origin.
The Texas A&M University System, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the County Commissioners Courts of Texas Cooperating