A scholarship opportunity to support California ranchers’ attendance at the upcoming Society for Range Management (SRM) Meeting in Sacramento, CA from January 30, 2015- February 7, 2015, is now available. Scholarship funds will be used to reimburse up to 50% of successful applicants’ cost to attend the conference. Applicants can select to attend part of or the full conference. All California ranchers are eligible to apply for this funding. The scholarships, which have been made available through the Renewable Resources Extension Act, are intended to give ranchers an opportunity to hear some of the most current information available on the ecology and management of rangeland ecosystems. SRM conference proceedings include information on current technical and policy issues affecting the ranching community and emerging concepts, technology and tools to better manage rangelands. Topics to be covered at the upcoming SRM conference include climate change, ecosystem services, conservation practices, weed management, use of technology for information dissemination, low-stress livestock handling and adaptive and collaborative management of rangelands. The information presented at SRM annual conferences can provide important insights for improving overall ranch productivity and adapting to new issues as they arise.
Ranchers attending the conference can expect to:
- gain more ideas about how to improve production
- learn how to manage their resources in a sustainable manner
- gain a better appreciation of the importance of collaborative and adaptive management
- build more established networks with other ranchers and professionals
- share their knowledge with peers at organized discussion sessions
- be energized to attend future SRM conferences
Participants are will meet with the following Livestock and Natural Resources Farm advisors: Fadzayi Mashiri, Julie Finzel and Sheila Barry, before the conference to help navigate the conference offerings and after, to provide feedback regarding their experience.
Review of applications start on December 1st, 2014 and will continue until the funds are exhausted.
Use the following link to apply online: http://ucanr.edu/survey/survey.cfm?surveynumber=14238.
For more information or to receive paper application forms, please email Fadzayi Mashiri at fmashiri@ucanr.edu or call 209-966-2417 and speak to Debbie Wass.
