LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) – Farmers and ranchers met at the National Ranching Heritage Center for the Ranching Technology Summit on Wednesday.
Jim Bret Campbell, executive director of the Heritage Center, said the industry needs new innovation.
“We focus here at the Ranching Heritage Center on the heritage of ranching. And we tell that story…over the past 200 years. But there have always been innovations in ranching. And we’re really blessed right now to be in an era where there is so much innovation and so many tools and resources available to really help make ranching successful,” Campbell said.
Campbell said these technologies range from healthier soil to smarter rotational grazing to new cattle management. He said it starts in the ground.
“So, we’re really focusing on several main buckets of technologies. One that really all starts with soil health and how do we improve our soil health across our rangelands, really across the semi-arid areas of the Great Plains, and what we actually focus on here on the South Plains,” Campbell said.
Focus on water conservation
In West Texas, every drop of water counts.
“We’ll also be looking at water and how do we capture the precious inches of rainfall that we do get here on the South Plains and really maximize that,” Campbell said.
Farming and ranching is passed through generations. Rancher Tye Chesser said that’s why new tools matter.
“What my granddad did in the ’50s and what my dad has done and what we are working to do differently now is making it to where hopefully my kids will have an opportunity, if they want to, to go back to the ranch and be a part of it,” Chesser said.
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