(TOPEKA) – Downey Ranch Inc. (DRI) will host the August 15 Kansas Livestock Association (KLA)/Kansas State University Ranch Management Field Day near Wamego. Educational sessions will cover water resource management, invasive species control and new technologies being used on the ranch. Owners Barb Downey and Joe Carpenter will lead each session.
The couple will share the ideology behind and success of their partnership with the Kansas Alliance for Wetlands & Streams on a Watershed Restoration and Protection Strategy. What began as a single project to move the ranch’s bull development lots away from an intermittent stream just 6 miles from the Kansas River has grown into continued efforts by DRI to employ innovative strategies to improve water resources.
Attendees also will hear about ways to manage invasive species through participation in the Kansas Great Plains Grassland Initiative and Environmental Quality Incentives Program. The ranch is working to address the encroachment of eastern red cedar and old-world bluestem to help further preserve their grasslands.
Additionally, Downey and Carpenter will discuss the successes and challenges they have experienced while implementing developing technologies into their management practices. Most recently, DRI experimented with virtual fencing. The ranch has been using Bluetooth-enabled ear tags over the past few years. These tags provide pasture location and information for the calves and herd bulls.
The program will conclude with a history of DRI and steps the family is taking to ensure the future of the operation.
The field day will begin with registration at 3:30 p.m. and end with a free beef dinner at 7:00 p.m. All livestock producers and others involved in the business are invited to attend.
To get to the field day location from Wamego, travel south on K-99 for 3 ½ miles to K-18. Turn west (right) onto K-18 and travel 2 ½ miles to Wabaunsee Road. Turn south (left) and travel 1 mile to Lines Road. Turn west (right) onto Lines Road, then south (left) at the jog in the road to continue on Wabaunsee Road. Travel 1 mile south to the intersection at Stone Barn Road. For those arriving at the beginning of the event, turn west (right) and go ½ mile for parking. Attendees arriving later will see the tent near the intersection.
Hoeme Ranch & Cattle will host the August 22 field day at a pasture in Gove County. The Farm Credit Associations of Kansas and Huvepharma are sponsoring both events. For more information, go to www.kla.org and click on Events & Meetings or call the KLA office at (785) 273-5115.
KLA is a trade organization representing the business interests of independent livestock producers at the state and national levels. Members of the association are involved in all segments of the livestock industry, including cow-calf production, backgrounding, cattle feeding, swine, dairy and sheep.
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