David McKnight ’73
Ranch Management University
Alumni Resources
The Alumni Resources section helps past participants continue their land stewardship journey with updated materials, tools, and exclusive content. It provides ongoing support for refining management plans and staying connected with fellow landowners.
Looking for and buying land
got Land?
support tool that assists potential or new landowners during the initial stages of acquiring or owning property
Holy cow… I just bought land!
- New Landowner Resource and Reference Guide
- Organizations, agencies, and experts available at little to no cost. Provide funding, expert knowledge, or other assistance that can improve land management outcomes and experiences.
- Links in pdf are clickable.
- Landowner Tools by Texas A&M Forest Service (sort by “landowner tools” at the top)
- Ten Things Landowners in Texas Need to Know
- Who are my county Extension agents?
- AgriLife Research and Extension Centers across Texas
- Endangered Species Act Guide for Land Stewards
- Generation Next: Our Turn to Ranch
- Private Land Stewardship Academies
- RanchTV at Texas A&M AgriLife Extension
Mapping your land
- Plan My Land Operation
- How can I draw my ranch?
- Rangeland Analysis Platform
- provides powerful perspective and context for rangeland monitoring. Use it to develop new management strategies and to evaluate current or past management practices.
Legal
Estate Planning
- “Successful Succession” videos by Texas Corn Producers
- “Farm Transitions” from Oklahome State University
- Farm Journal Legacy Project
- Ag Decision Maker from Iowa State University
- Annie’s Project
- Farm Hope
- free counseling for Texas ag producers – 979-436-0700
Property Tax Assistance
Ag Economics
Soil and Soil Health
Plant ID
- Contact your County AgriLife Extension Office and/or county Natural Resources Conservation Service
- See books and device apps listed below
- Plants of Texas Rangelands
- A Diagnostics Tool for Pond Plants and Algae
- The Basics of Plant Identification, Phenology, & Value – online course – $25
- Plant Party
- promote advanced training on all things plants
Forages
- Forage Fax
- Forage Fax Publications
- Cost spreadsheets, forage analysis, fertilizer, forage species, hay production, forage insects and more
- Texas A&M Forages
- Seedbed Preparation
Rangeland
- Plants of Texas Rangelands
- South Texas Rangelands
- Extension specialists site dedicated to publications, research and more.
- West Texas Rangelands
- Extension specialists site dedicated to publications, research and more.
- Texas Rangeland Ecology and Management
- Prescribed Fire Publications
- Prescribed Fire Portal – Prescribed Burn Alliance of Texas
Weed Management
- Texas A&M Weed Sciences.
- Publications and Lab Contact
- See Weed Control in Forage Fax Publications
- See Brush Busters
- See Weed Busters
Conservation – Technical Assistance
- A Conservation Guide for Texas Landowners
- USDA – Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) – Texas
- scroll about half way for the Service Center locator tool
- Wildlife Management on Private Lands
- Plateau Land and Wildlife Management
- LCRA Creekside Conservation Program
- regional program
Conservation – Financial Assistance
Grazing Management
- Center for Grazinglands and Ranch Management
- Texas Grazing Land Coalition
- Grazingland Animal Nutrition Laboratory, GAN Lab
- Service laboratory offering decision support for better nutritional management of livestock and stewardship of natural resources
- Grazing Principles for Profitable and Regenerative Resource Management Series
- Grazing Management Processes and Strategies for Riparian-Wetland Areas
- RanchTV at Texas A&M AgriLife Extension
Drought Management
Entomology
Honey Bees
Water Management
- Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Soil, Water and Forage Testing Laboratory
- Texas Commission on Environmental Quality
- Texas Water Development Board
- Texas Well Owner Network
- Water Data for Texas
- AgriLife Extension – Rainwater Harvesting
- Rainwater Harvesting in Texas
- Harvesting Rainwater for Wildlife
- Texas Watershed Viewer
Riparian Area Management
Beef Cattle
- AgriLife Extension – Beef Cattle
- Link to specialist team, events and publications
- pubs on: business, drought, health, nutrition, reproduction & calving
- Breeds of Cattle
- Beef Cattle Short Course – held each August in College Station
- Texas Beef Quality Assurance
- Grazingland Animal Nutrition Laboratory, GAN Lab
- Service laboratory offering decision support for better nutritional management of livestock and stewardship of natural resources
- RanchTV at Texas A&M AgriLife Extension
- AgriLife Extension Beef Cattle Specialists
Sheep and Goat
Equine
Feral Pigs in Texas
Wildlife
- Texas Wildlife Services
- Find a Wildlife Biologist
- How to Find Natural Resource Professionals in Texas
- Texas Wildlife ID Guide
- Wildlife Fact Sheets
- NRI Education training courses
- Nature Tracking
- Wildlife and Landowner Resources
- Wildlife Management on Private Lands
- Wildlife and Fish Management Calendar – A Landowner’s Guide
- Landowner Resources
- Techniques for Wetlands Construction and Management
- Harvesting Rainwater for Wildlife
- AgriLife Extension – Wildlife and Fisheries
Dove
Wild Turkey
Birding
Plant ID Book Suggestions:
compiled by Dr. Megan Clayton, Professor & Extension Range Specialist
- Bluestem Grasses in Texas by Clayton et al.
- Brush & Weeds of Texas Rangelands by Charles Hart et al.
- Common Rangeland Plants of West Central Texas by George Clendenin
- Common Woody Plants & Cacti of South Texas by Richard B. Taylor
- Field Guide to Common Texas Grasses by Hatch et al.
- Field Guide to the Broad-leaved Herbaceous Plants of South Texas by Everitt et al.
- Grasses of the Great Plains by James Stubbendieck
- Guide to Texas Grasses by Robert B. Shaw
- North American Wildland Plants: A Field Guide by James Stubbendieck
- Plants of Deep South Texas: A Field Guide to the Woody and Flowering Species by Alfred Richardson and Ken King
- Texas Wildflowers by Campbell and Lynn Loughmiller
- Toxic Plants of Texas by Charles Hart et al.
- Trees, Shrubs, and Vines of the Texas Hill Country by Jan Wrede
- Trees of Texas by Stahl and McElvaney
- Range Plants of North Central Texas by Ricky Linex (check with local Soil and Water Conservation Districts or NRCS Offices)
- Wildflowers of Texas by Michael Eason
- Wildflowers of the Western Plains by Zoe Merriman Kirkpatrick
Other Programs
- Beef Cattle Short Course – Every August in College Station
- Generation Next: Our Tour to Ranch – online course
- Bennett Trust Land Stewardship – Every April
- Bennett Trust Land Stewardship – Women Only – Every October
- TexasAgrAbility
