KIMBALL, Neb. – A sustainable ranching workshop set for Nov. 23 at Kimball is designed for ranchers and will focus on production, profit, and healthy family working relationships, the keys to long-term sustainability.

This workshop was developed from the key components of the High Plains Ranch Practicum School that has been occurring since 2007 in Southeast Wyoming and Western Nebraska.

The workshop will be on Monday, Nov. 23, from 10:30 a.m. until 4 p.m. in the Kimball Event Center. Cost of attending is $15. Anyone who plans to attend is asked to contact UNL Extension Educator Aaron Berger by Nov. 16 at (308) 235-3122 or at aberger2@unl.edu to ensure that adequate materials can be made available.

Key concepts to be covered at the workshop include:

• Ranch Financials – calculate your unit cost of production and compare against regional benchmarks

• Integrating Nutrition, Body Condition Scoring and Reproductive Performance

• Grazing Systems – Developing a grazing system and methods for monitoring rangeland systems

• Strategic Planning – Working on the ranch business and with the people involved in it

Instructors will be the developers for the High Plains Ranch Practicum School: UNL's Berger and Dallas Mount, University of Wyoming Extension Educator.

In order to most effectively utilize the limited amount of time together, participants are asked to prepare beforehand by reviewing some material. Participants can either read the pre-reading material or watch the video presentations available on the website at http://HPRanchPracticum.com. Or hard copies and DVDs are available from Berger at the Extension office in Kimball. At the workshop this material will not be reviewed. Instructors will begin discussing and applying the concepts presented.

Ranchers who participated in the full ranch practicum course reported significant improvements in ranch profitability and knowledge gained from the course.

For more information visit: http://HPRanchPracticum.com