W
HEN I WAS A LITTLE BOY, I DREAMED OF BEING A cowboy. Now, I want to be a rancher. There is a difference. Cowboys wrangle cattle.
Ranchers manage natural resources to produce high- quality beef. I became aware of the difference on my grandpar-
ents’ ranch in Lee County, but my stint at Ranch Bri- gade camp last summer expanded my understanding. Ranch Brigade focuses on ranching, land stewardship and leadership development. As an Eagle Scout and a long-time church member,
I’ve been to a lot of camps. Between scouting and FFA, I’ve also had many chances to learn leadership skills. The Ranch Brigade is one of the best experiences I’ve ever had. It’s a just-right mix of hands-on experience, lecture and fun. Teens, ages 13 to 17, come from all over Texas to
attend Ranch Brigade. Some come from a ranching background, and others don’t. Your beginning level of knowledge doesn’t matter because there’s a lot to learn. As soon as we got to camp, which was held on
the Warren Ranch near Santa Anna, we were divided into herds: Angus, Brahman, Charolais and Hereford.
tscra.org
MARCH 15, 2016 Deadline to apply for Texas Brigades
Throughout the week, we competed in many areas for the honor of Top Herd. The advisory committee and instruction staff in-
cluded professionals from the Texas Christian Uni- versity (TCU) Ranch Management School, the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo, state and federal natural resource agencies, universities and working ranches. They know what you need to know and are commit- ted to teaching you in a way that is meaningful and memorable. For instance, the fi rst thing we did at camp was
to perform necropsy on a heifer. It’s dissection on a large-scale, giving you an immediate understanding of bovine anatomy and allowing you to see the relation- ship of forage to beef. The instructors were really good at keeping us en-
gaged by alternating between classroom w ork, fi eld- work, such as plant identifi cation, and fun. We spent our “free” time practicing for the ranch competition,
January 2016 The Cattleman 75
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