The 2022 South Texas Farm and Ranch Show introduced agriculture and animal aficionados from across the area to the Victoria Community Center Wednesday.
The first day’s visitors gathered in a convention room for lunch after a morning stuffed with commerce present actions and sequence of informative periods across the complicated.
Animal science was the topic of curiosity throughout lunch, as Texas A&M professor Milton Thomas spoke about new applied sciences serving to ranchers acquire information on beef cattle growth traits and grazing behaviors.
“By 2050, there may be 10 billion people around the world,” Thomas. “You hear things like, ‘We are going to need double the amount of food we have to day to feed people.’”
To higher deal with the rising demand for meals, Thomas and the researchers he works with on the Beeville Agrilife Extension Station are gathering information from GPS trackers.
“Today you can download data from GPS ear tags and collars that record an animal’s location every 10 minutes,” Thomas mentioned.
Results from analysis utilizing GPS information usually cut up cattle up into two classes: hill toppers and backside dwellers, Thomas mentioned.
“When we talk about sustainability, how cows graze is important to follow,” Thomas mentioned.
Thomas is a Texas native, however a few of his experiences as an animal scientist had been molded in the Chihuahuan Desert in New Mexico and the excessive altitude atmosphere of Colorado.
During his presentation, Thomas displayed a graph depicting the common carcass weight of beef cattle in current years. The information revealed a pattern — a declining beef cattle inhabitants is producing about about as a lot beef as earlier generations.
Because of this, cattle at present are typically heavier than their predecessors, Thomas mentioned.
“I’m not saying this is right or wrong, I just think this is something we should keep an eye on in the future,” Thomas mentioned.
Following Thomas’ speech, present organizers honored livestock specialist Joe Paschal, who will quickly retire from his function with Texas A&M Agrilife.
“I really have enjoyed working for (Agrilife) for the past 35 years,” Paschal mentioned. “I’ve been to some of your places. Some of you have called me and we have just done a lot of things together.”
Leo Bertucci is a Report for America corps member who covers power and atmosphere for the Victoria Advocate.
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