Texas Section Society for Rangeland Management

Transcription

1 2015 Outstanding Rangeland Award Recipients Dale & Caroline Smith Representing Turkey Track Ranch, and 2015 TSSRM President Dr. Cody Scott Texas Section Society for Rangeland Management Outstanding Rangeland Stewardship Award Turkey Track Ranch Page 1 of 6

2 The Turkey Track Ranch William Thomas Coble bought the original Turkey Track headquarters in His daughter married J.A. Whittenburg and their heirs have owned and expanded the ranch. Coble was president of Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers in the mid 1930 s and his grandson J. A. Whittenburg III was president in the mid 1970 s. The family has grown through the years and takes great pride in the history of the ranch and are especially interested in continuing to improve the wildlife and rangeland resources of the Turkey Track. All thirteen members of the next generation take an active interest in ranch operations. The family has a weekly meeting at which ranch issues are discussed. The mission statement of the ranch is To enhance the value of the ranch while producing a sustainable profit. The ranch is presently run in conjunction with Adobe Walls Cattle Company (Dale Smith & Jay O Brien) Dale Smith as managing partner. The Turkey Track Ranch is located North and East of Stinnett, Texas on the northern breaks of the Canadian River. The ranch is naturally highly erodible containing sandy, sandy loam, and clay loam soils. The grasses range from short grass, such as, Blue Grama, Sideoats Grama, and Buffalograss to taller grasses, such as, Little Bluestem, Indiangrass, Sand Bluestem, and Switchgrass. There are numerous sub irrigated meadows and riparian areas. The ranch is cross fenced into over 50 pastures to allow for more uniform grazing, proper rest and rotation. Some haying is done on the native grass meadows. Hay is used on the ranch and sold to area feedyards. More recently the meadows have been grazed in an early intensive stocking manner and rested the latter half of the summer to Page 2 of 6

3 to increase the desirable tall grass species, such as, Sand Bluestem, Indiangrass, Switchgrass, and Eastern Gamagrass. In 2009, Turkey Track worked with Clint Rollins with the Grazing Lands Conservation Initiative and NRCS to do a thorough evaluation of the grazing resources of the ranch. This survey looks at the ranch to establish grazable acres which impacts stocking rates. The survey may have helped in the good years of 2009 and 2010, but it allowed management to adjust rapidly to the next three years of extreme drought. The ranch has grazing enclosures on five key ecological sites, which allows management to monitor the health of grasses. Photo points are also established on the ranch for comparative purposes over a long term basis. In the fall, at the end of the growing season, grass clippings give an estimate of forage production. Every five years, management will identify the grass and forb species every two feet along a 200 transect line that is fixed on a permanent line between two t-posts. This gives a species composition and percent canopy cover of the brush species. It was interesting to note that the damage of the extreme heat and drought of 2011, 2012 and 2013 did damage to these non-grazed areas equal to the grazed areas. In addition, management has continued meetings with NRCS and GLCI staff to discuss recovery plans as management understands that drought recovery is not instantaneous. The NRCS and GLCI staff have used the Turkey Track for training new employees in rangeland monitoring practices. Page 3 of 6

4 Another part of the GLCI evaluation is a water map which shows practical distance from water considering the terrain. Water has always been a priority on the Turkey Track and it is one of the best watered ranches in the Texas Panhandle, with windmills, solar wells, live water and man-made lakes. However, the GLCI study showed poorly watered areas, and new solar wells and pipelines have been put in place to help on grazing distribution. 25 to 50% of the ranch has been rested on a seasonal basis in the last three to four years, but the burned area in especially sandy country, which are highly susceptible to wind erosion, has been rested completely for two years. This rest has resulted in a healthy regrowth of grasses and forbs. Adobe Walls Cattle Company has run a combination of a stocker and a cow/calf herd because the stockers are easier to destock in case of drought. This was very fortunate because 2011 brought the hottest and driest summer since records were kept, and 2012 and 2013 were not much better. On top of the drought, a devastating fire hit the west side of the ranch in 2011 and a smaller wildfire occurred in the winter of Adobe Walls shipped the stockers, as early as, June in 2011 and was able to expand, not liquidate the cow herd during the drought. The ranch has controlled Mesquite for years. In recent years, a major grubbing project was undertaken to address invasive Russian Olives along the north bank of the Canadian River. Before the work was done on controlling Russian Olives, discussions were held with the National Wild Turkey Federation. This has benefits for the water table and all wildlife, but especially wild turkey. Page 4 of 6

5 Wildlife Conservation has been foremost in the Coble/ Whittenburg family for years. Turkey Track Ranch has worked with Texas Parks and Wildlife in developing a managed deer permit and maintaining healthy fish populations. The ranch is covered with dams and check dams to contain water and prevent runoff. The ranch supports an area which is a natural habitat for Bald Eagles, lakes which provide winter habitat for thousands of waterfowl and natural feed for the eagles, Rio Grande Turkeys, Bob White and Scaled Quail, Mule and White Tail Deer, Pronghorn Antelope and many ground nesting birds. Grazing plans are designed considering wildlife. The Adobe Walls Monument is located on the ranch and a fair number of visitors drive to it to view the site of the two Adobe Walls Indian battles (1864 & 1874) and Medal of Honor winner Billy Dixon s famous 1500 yard shot with a Sharps. The ranch and the Panhandle Plains Historical Museum also host groups that visit the site. Because of the traffic, proper grazing management is very important as visitors not only form opinions of the battle, but of the stewardship of ranchers. Also, photographs of the site, such as the one above, influence people on the internet for years. Dale Smith is currently on the board of Texas Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association, Cattle-Fax and National Cattleman s Beef Association and is a founder and past president of the Texas Panhandle Prescribed Burn Association. Mr. Smith and the ranch have worked with the Sand County Foundation s Leopold Stewardship Fund, the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department and the Fish and Wildlife Service in promoting prescribed burning and other conservation practices. Partner with Dale Smith in Adobe Walls is Jay O Brien. O Brien has served in many industry positions including chair of Texas Cattle Feeders Association, Texas Beef Council, and the Cattlemen s Beef Board. O Brien is extremely proud to have been vice chair of the Private Lands Committee of National Cattleman s Beer Association when the Environmental Stewardship Award was started and to have served on the first selection committee. O Brien and Smith have been long time members of the Society for Range Management. Page 5 of 6

6 TSSRM is proud to declare the Turkey Track Ranch as the 2015 recipient of the Outstanding Rangeland Stewardship award. Page 6 of 6