Specialists and county Extension agents have set up demonstrations at the Kerr Wildlife Management Area in Kerr County and the Freeman Ranch in Hays County. That means, the two plots of land are in close proximity to each other. Cedar removal and a moderate grazing plan are two of the BMPs being implemented on the Freeman Ranch, which belongs to Southwest Texas State University. The grazing plan will be compared to overgrazing or continued grazing practices currently being used on many acres, said Billy Kniffen, Hays County Extension agent. This is a fast-growing area with lots of land being developed.
Most new landowners know little about grazing management or conservation.
This is a teaching tool to show them how new management strategies can help them. The Hays County demonstration is a joint project involving rangeland water specialists and Extension agents in Hays, Comal, Caldwell, Guadalupe and Travis counties. Hays County alone has 290,000 acres of rangeland. Texas has more than 111 million acres of ranch land and permanent pasture. The BMPs being evaluated in the Kerr County project include brush control and comparing land managed for grazing to land managed solely for wildlife.