Trail Ranch hosts first of 3 area range tours
By Kathy Thomson
Around 40 people attended the Shackelford County Range and Pasture Tour on Tuesday, June 25.
“We had lots of great speakers,” said local county extension agent Michaela Bradford. “It was a good educational event.”
The AgriLife sponsored event was the first of a three-part Big Country Beef Cattle Improvement Series and was held at the Trail Ranch.
“Tamara Trail was there and talked to the group a little about the condition the land was in when they bought the ranch,” Bradford said. “She told them what they wanted the ranch to become, and what they have done to optimize wildlife and livestock production.”
Speakers covered several topics including prescribed burning, mechanical, chemical and IPT brush control, livestock and wildlife water development, food plots, grazing practices, and landowner incentive programs.
Jones County and Taylor County will host the second and third parts of the series in July and August.
The Trail Ranch won the Lone Star Land Steward Regional award from Texas Parks and Wildlife in April of 2018.
“Recognizing that habitat degradation didn’t occur overnight, and neither does restoration, Justin and Tamara Trail have taken a step-by-step approach to managing their Shackelford County ranch,” said the TPWD news release. “One of the fundamental objectives for the Trail Ranch is to manage the land and the plant community to benefit from moisture when it occurs and to sustain a healthy habitat even during drought conditions.”
According to the TPWD, the Trails have made strides in improving the land for wildlife, particularly bobwhite quail, turkey, and deer through brush control, native plant restoration, and other best management practices.
