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Ranch Management Program

Admission
Courses of Instruction
Evening Courses

The Ranch Management Program requires one academic year (nine months) to complete. Students are provided intensive classroom instruction in basic management principles. The program of study includes courses in livestock production, natural resource conservation, forage production, accounting principles, marketing, personnel management and general management principles. Field work is coordinated with classroom study to demonstrate principles as they are applied in production situations.

Classes are presented in three-hour units to allow concentration of subject matter and to facilitate field work. Generally, class hours are from 9 a.m. to noon and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. five days a week, although class hours may vary somewhat when field work requires additional time for travel. Basic vocational skills are taught that require physical mobility and manual dexterity. Field work includes five week-long trips and numerous shorter trips. No other courses may be taken during the year.

Admission

In addition to meeting academic enrollment criteria, applicants for the full-time program should have sufficient working experience in agriculture to understand the nature of the industry. Basic knowledge and experience with farming or ranching enterprises enables the student to obtain more value out of the course of study. Enrollment is limited. Selection to the class is made after each applicant completes application, including transcripts and personal interview. When all other considerations are equal, earlier applicants are given priority. Since 1956, students from 40 states and 22 other nations have studied ranching at TCU.

For information, applications or interviews, write to the director, Ranch Management Program, TCU Box 297420, Fort Worth, Texas 76129, or call (817) 257-7145.

Credit. The two-semester program leads to 34 semester hours of credit and a Ranch Management Certificate. The program is an entity in itself and not a part of other academic study.

The following is a complete list of courses offered by this department. Go to Class Search on the Registrar's Page to see which courses are being taught this semester.

Courses of Instruction

RM 30102 RANCH JOBS AND DEVELOPMENT. Methods of livestock identification, dehorning, castration, and controlling external parasites; the planning and construction of fences, corrals, and buildings to facilitate the handling of livestock.

RM 30213 RANCH BUSINESS MANAGEMENT. Business law as applied to the livestock producer, business organization, estate planning, labor relations, application of management principles to ranching.

RM 30403 SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION. Soil formation and development; soil characteristics which affect productivity; soil erosion by wind and water; soil, water, and wildlife conservation and management practices; Soil and Water Conservation District and U.S.D.A. agency assistance; preparation of coordinated conservation plan.

RM 30703 ANIMAL NUTRITION AND FEEDING. Digestion and use of feeds for maintenance and production, selection of feeds for maintenance and production, selection of feeds based on composition and cost, ration formulation, feed processing and handling, dry lot feeding programs, supplemental feeding on pasture, possible limiting factors in feeding efficiency.

RM 40103 BEEF CATTLE PRODUCTION. Economics of beef production enterprises; selection by records and visual appraisal for economically important traits including reproduction, gainability, and carcass value; inheritance; systems of breeding; production programs; management practices

RM 40112 SHEEP AND GOAT PRODUCTION. Sheep breeds and crosses; selection for mutton and wool production; Angora goat selection; breeding; supplemental feeding; marketing of wool and mohair.

RM 40303 ANIMAL HEALTH MANAGEMENT. Anatomy and physiology of cattle, indications of health and disease, development of immunity, specific infectious and noninfectious diseases of cattle, control of internal and external parasites, toxicology, basic veterinary skills and equipment.

RM 40313 ANIMAL HEALTH AND REPRODUCTION. Reproduction in cattle including organs and functions, natural and artificial breeding management, calving management, examination of cows for pregnancy, evaluation of bulls for soundness and fertility, selection of horses for soundness, treatment for sickness and injury, horse breeding.

RM 40503 RANGE MANAGEMENT. Principles of plant growth and reproduction; economic characteristics and field identification of range plants; ecology of range plants and animals; management of rangeland for all its uses including setting and adjusting stocking rates, distribution of grazing, grazing methods and supporting practices; preparation of ranch management plan.

RM 40603 RANCH RECORDS AND FINANCE. Basic records needed for management and income tax reports-records of income and expense, inventories, net worth statements, budgets, production records; term problem in which all records for a year's operation are recorded and financial statements are prepared; sources of credit for ranch operations.

RM 40803 MARKETING OF LIVESTOCK AND MEATS. Relation of production to marketing, trends in marketing and consumption, meat processing and distribution, U.S.D.A activities, market outlets and procedures, futures, seasonal and cyclical influences on prices, selection of time and place to market, handling and transportation of livestock to improve weighing conditions and minimize losses, merchandising purebred livestock.

RM 40903 FORAGE PRODUCTION AND USE. Characteristics and management of introduced pasture plants; combinations for extended grazing, seedbed preparation and planting; weed control, fertilization, irrigation, grazing management and harvest for hay, silage and seed.

RAMA 40970 Special Topics in Ranch Management. An independent directed study of current issues and topics concerning global agricultural resource management. Students will be exposed to various applied management practices and principles in a field trip environment comprised entirely of foreign and/or domestic travel. Emphasis will be placed on integral production agricultural resource management practices, and economically viable agricultural enterprises indigenous to the area studied.

 
Evening Courses in Ranch Management

The TCU Ranch Management Program is meeting the educational needs of the ranching community by presenting evening classes through the Texas Christian University Office of Extended Education. These courses are designed for ranchers, business and professional people as well as other students unable to attend the full-time Ranch Management Program. The full-time faculty members of the Ranch Management Program teach evening courses. Course materials are the same as the course material used for the day classes. Information from ranch studies is brought into the classroom even though extensive travel is not possible. In some instances, two courses from the regular program have been combined to provide a uniform format of three-semester hour's credits. One course will be offered each semester until the full cycle of courses has been completed. The class is presented in a three-hour lecture on Tuesday evening from 7:00 p.m. until 10:00 p.m. Upon successful completion of the seven courses the enrollee becomes a graduate of the Evening Division of Ranch Management and receives a certificate of completion.

Admission

Admission is through the TCU Office of Extended Education. For an application and other admission information contact the Office of Extended Education at 817-257-7130.