Wednesday, February 26, 1997

Sheep dog trials slated for March 1

By J.T. SMITH / Farm Editor

Russell Johnson's Border Collies will be hosting a Texas Sheep Dog Association approved trial at 8 a.m. Saturday.

The event will be staged 4.3 miles south of Bronte off of U.S. Highway 277. Turn east on Ratliff Road and go 1.4 miles and the site will be the first field on the left.

"Some of the top state and national handlers will be attending," Johnson says.

Admission is free.

Johnson advises spectators to bring their lawn chairs and perhaps their umbrellas for shade.

Wayne King Beefmasters, Bill and Dwala Casey, Cedar Hill Ranch, and Larry and Diane Spivey of D & L Dozier Service and Custom Farming are helping to sponsor the trials.

For more information, call Johnson (915) 473-2003.

If you have never watched these superb animals in a sheep dog trial, you are in for a treat.

Ostrich group elects officers

The West Texas Ostrich Association elected new officers at the group's February meeting.

Officers are Glinda Cunningham of Wild Canyon Ostrich Ranch, president; Doyle Allen of A-A Ranch, vice president; Larry Jeffcoat D & L Ostrich Farm, secretary; and Jeanetta McKnight of A-A Ranch, treasurer.

Those elected directors are Rodney Ammonett of Idlewild Creek Ostrich Creek; Gary Carson and Larry Cunningham, Wild Canyon Ostrich Ranch; Don and Betty Delman, Ticklebrook Farm; Glenn Stevenson, Two Twenty Two Ranch; Roy White, White Fence Ostrich Ranch, and Jack Waldron, Waldron Ostrich Ranch.

The goal of the West Texas Ostrich Association is to provide education, networking, and support of the ostrich industry.

The association meets the first Tuesday of each month at 6 p.m. at the Colonial Inn in Abilene and invites anyone interested in the ostrich industry to attend.

Dinner can be purchased during the monthly meeting, and ostrich steak is available.

Extension agents honored

Two Extension agents were honored with the Excellence in IPM Programming Award in Integrated Pest Management during the Texas Pest Management's Association annual meeting during February.

Rick Minzenmayer, Extension agent for IPM in Runnels and Tom Green counties, and Brant Baugh, Extension agent for IPM, Lubbock County, were recognized in ceremonies at Corpus Christi.

Minzenmayer, who has his headquarters at Ballinger, won the award given this year to an IPM Extension agent with seven or more years experience.

Baugh received the award for IMP agents with six or fewer years of service.

He also won the TPMA's "Outstanding IMP Specialist Award."

Minzenmayer is well known to farmers in the Abilene region for his knowledge of Rolling Plains cotton production.

Along with a plaque, each entomologist received $1,000 as part of their award.

Baugh also received an additional $1,500 for being named Outstanding IPM Specialist.