Friday, January 31, 1986/The Battalion/Page 5
tanching
ivestock soeciafu
ivestock specialist says cattleowners must use technology
availjj
lowc By RICHARD WILLIAMS
Reporter
^Hchnology that could save many
operations in T exas has been
Me. f'|iiai,[ e for many years, but live-
^^■specialist Dr. Tom Troxel says
IIP: >st|Texas ranchers aren’t using it.
tiWL xel, a livestock specialist with
loa.sw'exas Agricultural Extension
says he is perplexed by the
l nee|8>f acceptance Texas ranchers
||®hown towards this technology.
HaHie ranching industry should
learn from the successful
hoiiijusiiies throughout the United
re infoils. Troxel says. “There isn’t one
^^Ksful industry today that is op-
the same way it operated 50
t “ n SOlyears ago. To stay in business,
?70l* success ^ u l * nc I u stries have had
^^^"nge with the times.”
bxel says the ranching industry
tourEi
auth
tmuia
in Texas hasn’t changed with the
times in the areas of management or
technology. He says 85 percent of
ranchers involved in beef cattle pro
duction don’t use growth implants,
which stimulate growth in their
cattle.
“This is in spite of the fact that
(growth) implants can increase
weaning weights around 10 percent
and give you a return of $10 for ev
ery one dollar you invest,” he says.
T roxel also says 80 percent of the
ranchers in Texas do not make use
of breeding technologies such as ar
tificial insemination, or fertility test
ing.
Management is another area
where ranchers are lagging behind,
he says. Too many ranchers, he says,
are using the “hope management
system” to run their ranch.
Troxel explains the “hope man
agement system” as when a rancher
“doesn’t check the fertility of his
bulls, but hopes they’re fertile, re
fuses to give supplemental feed to
his cattle and hopes they find
enough nutrients, forgets to give
vaccinations to cattle and hopes the
cattle don’t get sick.”
“And finally, after all else fails,”
Troxel says, “he hopes the banker
will give him a loan to survive.
“Ranchers must start running the
ranch like a business because only
those that can read the writing on
the wall and start making modern fi
nancial and management plans will
make it.”
But the use of technology and
sound fiscal planning might not be
enough to save Texas ranches.
“The saddest part is that even
fii
modern ranching may never pay for
a modern lifestyle” ne says. “Most
eople who ranch want that modern
ifestyle.”
Troxel says inheriting a ranch
may be the only feasible way for
young people to obtain a ranch of
their own.
But Troxel urges young people to
be patient. “A young man cannot ex
pect to start in the ranching industry
and after only a short period of time,
have what his father and grandfa
ther had after working for 20 or 30
years,” he says.
No matter what happens in the
near future, Troxel says he doesn’t
believe there will be any agency in
tervention, governmental or private,
to save the day.
Troxel says he sees no winners
playing the ranching game in the
near future, just surviors.
ATTENTION
MAY GRADUATES
Order your Graduation
Announcements Now!
The last day is Thursday, February 13,1986.
MSC Student Finance Center
217 Memorial Student Center
Monday-Friday8a.m.-4p.m.
,ggies spend holidays exploring caves
ttmaud
a from
estiM
t on a
388;
By D. ANN BEELER
Reporter
grounded by jungle, two Aggies
febrated New Year’s Day by eating
^■olica Chicken steamed over
leaves and preparing for the
iday’s caving exploration,
ve Robertson, a biology grad-
student, and David Locklear, a
¥ industrial education major,
But on their expedition witn a
of spelunkers to explore and
|v unmapped caves of Vera-
Mexico, and collect specimens
e blind catfish.
bertson and Locklear are mem-
j|of Aggie Speleological So-
ty. Members of the club explore
°" f KS around Austin, in New Mexico
tm.
din Mexico.
lUon:
n thefiF
has
said
ertson, who
for 10 years
e is to caves by the lure of the un
Own.
You never know what
■ he said.
mecifi
for nei
?adlinei
dress at
e.
tier at
explored
he is at-
you’ll
bertson says he considers
ing plants and animals discov-
■in caves valuable to his educa-
Bnding specimens and photo-
liingcave phenomena are inter-
“You never know what
you 'll find (in a cave). ”
— Steve Robertson, bi
ology graduate student.
esting as long as the cave is not al
tered or destroyed in any way,”
Robertson said.
Locklear said he began exploring
caves seriously almost two years ago
and is currently vice president of the
Aggie Speleological Society.
He said his favorite activities in
clude cliff diving and waterskiing.
“I’m sort of a crazy person, and
I’ve been that way all of my life,” he
said. “I live on the edge of life and
love it.”
In a cave, spelunkers occasionally
discover unusual species of plants
and animals, he said.
“Unfortunately, we confront
more common little creatures like
snakes, mice, rats and millions or
sometimes billions of bats as well,”
Locklear said.
According to Robertson, the high
light of his Christmas excursion was
collecting several blind catfish in
Cueba del Tunal for his personal
study.
“The fish is roughly two to eight
inches long and is yellowish-white or
light brown in color,” he said.
The tiny fish are ferocious eaters
— they eat just about anything, Rob
ertson said.
Some of the fish have a layer of
skin covering their eyes, Robertson
said.
“The group traveled 200
feet into the cave, encoun
tering knee-high warm
white water, whirlpools,
and climbed a slippery 30-
foot waterfall without ro
pes. ”
— David Locklear, Aggie
Speleological Society.
“Other fish have vestigial devel
opments that resemble eyes, but
have been reduced to non-func
tioning formations,” he said.
pm
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The catfish Robertson found are
members of the genus Rhamdia but
may be of an unknown species classi
fication, he added. The tiny catfish is
most unusual in its sleeping habits,
Robertson said.
“The fish sleep either on their
heads or resting upright on their
tails,” he said.
Locklear said he was intrigued by
the Tolantongo cave located on the
Rio Tonto River. The cave is hidden
behind a beautiful waterfall, Lock
lear said.
“The group traveled 200 feet into
the cave, encountering knee-high
warm white water, whirlpools, and
climbed a slippery 30-foot waterfall
without ropes,” he said.
Locklear said he found an albino
crayfish inside the cave that was to
tally blind.
Locklear said he regi
spending more time in th
tongo cave.
rets not
e Tolan-
“I hope to return to the cave with
the Speleological club members next
Christmas Break,” he said. “The To
lantongo cave is one of the most ex
citing caves in the world.”
The Shipley DO-NUT Charity
TRIVIAL
PURSUIT
TOURNAMENT
(Prizes Awarded)
A Tradition in Aggieland for
Almost 1/lOOth of a Year!
-REGISTRATION & DETAILS-
Shipley Do-Nut Shop/College Station
1716 S.W. Parkway
open 24 hours
Registration Deadline: 6 p.m., Feb 2, 1986
Play Begins: Feb 3, 1986
Net Proceeds To: Phoebe’s Home,
an agency of Twin City Mission
Herb Will Be There!
What About You?
Business Career Fair
Blocker Building
Feb. 3-7
GIZMOS
r/VFefBAP
MIXED DRINKS AT N0RTHGATE!
HAPPY HOUR
Mon-Fri 4-8 Sat. All Day!
$1 00 Well Drinks $1 50 Call Drinks
750 Draught Beer
109 Boyett next to
Whole Earth
846-8223
THE BATFAEIOm CLASSIFIEDS
845-2611