11th annual Quail Field Day set May 24 in Roby
ROBY – The Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service and Rolling Plains Quail Research Foundation, or RPQRF, are sponsoring the 11th annual Quail Field Day on May 24 in Roby. The event will take place at the Rolling Plains Quail Research Ranch, 1262 U.S. Highway 180 West, Roby. Registration will begin at 8:30 a.m., and the […]
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Writer: Susan Himes, 325- 657-7315, Susan.Himes@ag.tamu.edu
Contact: Dale Rollins, 325-650-0311, d-rollins@tamu.edu
The 11th annual Quail Field Day takes place May 24 in Roby. (photo RPQRF)
ROBY – The Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service and Rolling Plains Quail Research Foundation, or RPQRF, are sponsoring the 11th annual Quail Field Day on May 24 in Roby.
The event will take place at the Rolling Plains Quail Research Ranch, 1262 U.S. Highway 180 West, Roby. Registration will begin at 8:30 a.m., and the event will run from 9 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Lunch will be provided.
“Quail abundance over the past three years has gone from riches to rags,” said Dale Rollins, event organizer and RPQRF executive director. “The big question in the quail world right now is ‘how many breeder birds do we have available to capitalize on the good habitat conditions?’ We’ll be demonstrating how you can get a ‘quick and dirty estimate’ based on spring cock call counts. I know there will be many ears cocked skyward starting next month.”
Registration is $10 at the door. Participants are encouraged to RSVP to Rollins at 325-650-0311 or email him at d-rollins@tamu.edu. Two Texas Department of Agriculture general continuing education units are available for participants who hold a private applicator’s license.
“Pollinators like Monarch butterflies and bumblebees have become very topical in recent years,” Rollins said. “We’ll feature several talks on pollinators, and our premise that good habitat management for quail is also good for pollinators.”
Other topics will include plant identification, precision herbicide application using drones and insurance options for prescribed burns.
“Prickly pear cactus represents a ‘prickly paradigm’ for quail managers. We’ll be inspecting some new herbicide trials with Mezavu and talking about integrated approaches for managing cacti,” Rollins said.
Rollins emphasized that this will be a “real field day” with participants being outdoors in the field with subject matter experts. The field day will conclude with a demonstration prescribed burn and a tour of food plots for bobwhites, bugs and doves.
The Quail Field Day will be held at the Rolling Plains Quail Research Ranch. (photo RPQRF)
In addition to Rollins, field day speakers include:
- Daniel King, RPQRR manager, Roby.
- Nick Dickson, AgriLife Extension agent, Fisher County.
- Kent Mills, Hi-Pro Feeds nutritionist, Snyder.
- Ricky Linex, USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service biologist, Weatherford.
- Dr. Charley Hart, Corteva Agriscience range and pasture development specialist, Stephenville.
- Dr. Morgan Treadwell, AgriLife Extension range specialist, San Angelo.
- Dusty White, Roscoe Independent School District drone specialist, Roscoe.
- Rodger Lister, Big Country Master Naturalist, Nolan.
- Marianne Marugg, Big Country Master Naturalist, Abilene.
- John Palarski, Tarleton State University graduate research assistant, Stephenville.
For more information, visit the Rolling Plains Quail Research Ranch’s Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/RPQRR/ or call 325-650-0311.
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