Clay County Range and Wildlife Field Day

By Randy Henry
Zone 5 Public Affairs Specialist

While visiting five ranches and a farm along the surrounding agricultural landscapes of Henrietta, Texas, USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) speakers Zone 5 Wildlife Biologist Ricky Linex and Zone Range Management Specialist Kent Ferguson presented discussions to several attendees at the Clay County Range and Wildlife Field Day during a daylong tour.

The field day was held on October 12, 2005, and was sponsored by NRCS, the Farm Service Agency of Clay County, and the local Texas Cooperative Extension office. Many interested attendees started out from the Holman Center in Henrietta, and were treated to tours and discussions that included controlled burning, livestock pipelines, wildlife water facilities, brush sculpting for wildlife, working with livestock, farm programs, and available federal programs.

At the Lone Star Hereford Ranch, a ranch with 25 years of raising champion livestock in Clay County and the first stop on the field day tour Zone Wildlife Biologist Ricky Linex spoke about federal wildlife management programs, and encouraged landowners to participate in Farm Bill programs such as the Continuous Conservation Reserve Program (CCRP).

“There are good programs out here for landowners. The ranch across the road (Birdwell/Clark Ranch) is using a wildlife habitat buffer program along one of their streams, and these areas are protected from grazing so the grasses will soak in the rainwater and will flow out over the next month or so,” said Linex. “If your grass holds more water, it adds to the filter and goes downstream and eventually into a lake and this benefits everybody. All of this is working together to manage the land, and if you can manage your cattle, fences and water you’ll manage the grass in the habitat for cattle and wildlife together.”

One of the ranches that enhanced the field day was the Diaz Murray Ranch. The Murray Ranch, which is working with NRCS on a Conservation Security Program (CSP) contract, has more than 12,600 acres of rangeland and pastureland utilizing CSP funds for grazing management and wildlife habitat management. Part of the improvements on the Murray Ranch has water facilities targeting at providing clean water for livestock and wildlife on the operation.

“The importance of clean water on a ranching operation is one thing to have if your ranch divided up and has plenty of grass, so this is what it’s all about – you got to have clean water and plenty of it and properly placed on your ranch,” noted Ferguson.

The Murray Ranch utilizes livestock pipelines, watering troughs, wildlife watering facilities, and brush sculpting on their agricultural operation. Diaz Murray has everything working together to have wildlife and livestock within the same ranch area.

“The proper design and placement of these pipelines and water troughs are of the utmost importance to an operation, so there are certain things you need to think about when you’re planning these pipelines and troughs. I would strongly recommend that when looking at water on your ranches, ranchers should have water around a half-mile apart or closer,” said Ferguson.

The tour group and attendees ended their day with a more diverse knowledge about conservation practices and management from local ranchers, and were treated to a tasty chuck wagon lunch and continued education units on pesticide use for those who needed them.