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.