By Jessica Domel
Multimedia Reporter

World-renowned educator and animal behavior expert Dr. Temple Grandin is coming to Texas in July.

Grandin, author of Animals in Translation and Temple Grandin’s Guide to Working with Farm Animals, will be the featured speaker at the annual Sandhills Beef Cattle Conference July 7 in Monahans.

“We’re ecstatic to bring someone as influential and well known as Dr. Grandin to West Texas,” Dena Floyd, AgriLife Extension agriculture and natural resources agent for Winkler and Loving counties, said. “She will be speaking on her principles of animal behavior. Then after lunch, we’ll go over to the arena with Dr. Ron Gill and Dr. Bruce Carpenter to a live cattle handling demonstration.”

Grandin will have several of her books available for sale and signing at the event.

“Our goal is to bring relevant agricultural programming to our Far West Texas agricultural producers,” Floyd said in an interview with the Texas Farm Bureau Radio Network. “With the speakers we have lined up for this event, we expect to have many attendees, including from outside of West Texas.”

Other speakers include Tiffany Dowell Lashmet, Extension agriculture law specialist; Dr. Ky Pohler, Texas A&M reproductive physiologist; Dr. Ron Gil, Extension beef cattle specialist; and Dr. Bruce Carpenter, Extension livestock specialist.

“Tiffany Lashmet will be providing her agriculture law expertise on ranch succession and will cover upcoming policy changes that will affect us all,” Floyd said. “Dr. Ky Pohler will be covering his game-changing chute-side pregnancy test, and we’ll have a round table discussion led by Dr. Ron Gil and local entrepreneurs discussing topics like the emergence of small-town processing plants.”

The conference will begin with registration and breakfast at 7:30 a.m. July 7 at the Ward County Event Center in Monahans.

The event will later move over to the Ward County arena for the live demonstrations.

Cost is $50 for the all-day event.

Click here to register. Registration is open through July 7.

You can also contact an Extension office in any of the following counties: Winkler/Loving, Crane, Andrews, Martin, Ector, Midland, Pecos and Culberson.