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Here’s your sign

New requirements in place for full protection

HANG IT UP – This sign must now be posted to get legal protection under the Texas Farm Animal Liability Act. Photo courtesy of Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association

Well, it seems that in today’s world we need and have a sign for everything.

We have signs when we travel that identify roads to help us get to our destination without getting lost or having a fight with your better half. We have signs that tell us the speed limit and whether to stop or yield, do not enter, and much more. I am very thankful for the great road signs that we have in the Lone Star State.

We have signs for restaurants, hotels, shopping centers and the list goes on. If you stop a second and take a look, signs are all around us, and I would say they are good for the most part.

When it comes to farms and ranches once you travel down a country road and drive through the gate the signs usually disappear. Oh, there may be an occasional sign of some sort like a ranch business sign, a cattle association sign, a cattle or deer crossing sign, or one to direct trucks where to load or unload, or even one that warns that the dog bites or the kids are at play.

I have visited a lot of ranches all over Texas and Oklahoma buying cows and bulls over the years, and these signs are few and far between. Well, don’t worry if you don’t have a sign. Now there is one you all will definitely need to post. The Texas Farm Animal Liability Act through House Bill 365 made changes that went into effect in September and anyone who owns livestock in Texas, which includes horses, cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, fowl and honey bees in a managed colony, will need to hang this sign on the barn door or cedar post.

New signs must be posted to get Texas Farm Animal Liability Act legal protection. We have had this Farm Animal Liability Act to protect farmers and ranchers since 1996, but we were not required to post a sign. Well, after the Supreme Court case in 2020 essentially ruled the act did not apply to injuries on working farms and ranches, this has changed thanks to our elected officials looking out for us in Austin. So to sum it up, in order to get the statute’s full protection, farm and ranch owners and lessees must also now hang a sign at or near their arena, corral or stable.

Here is how it reads:

Warning

Under Texas law (chapter 87, civil practice and remedies code), a farm animal professional or farm owner or lessee is not liable for an injury to or the death of a participant in farm animal activities, including an employee or independent contractor, resulting from the inherent risks of farm animal activities.

So, hang up your sign soon, before someone hangs one around your neck and says “Here’s ‘Your’ Sign.”

HAY SHOW RESULTS

We had a great turnout for the 2021 Wise County Hay Show. Oh Shucks Catering (Debra Sinclair) fed 56 people with an outstanding taco bar.

Our attendees enjoyed the meal, education and visiting with all the vendors. I want to thank everyone for participating in the hay show competition as well as our program. We had folks from several different neighboring counties attend as well. I am already looking forward to a bigger and better hay show for September 2022.

I want to give a special hats off to our meal sponsors: Zimmerer Kubota (Sherman Hammons), McMasters New Holland (Ty and Lance McMasters), United Ag and Turf (John Coates), Hendershot Equipment (Chris Virreal) and Bayer-Ag (Billy Campbell and Ron Courntey).

Our equipment dealers had equipment there to view and talk about to our folks and they gave away some awesome door prizes: a hay moisture and temperature probe tester from Zimmerer Kubota, a heavy duty John Deere Green tool box from United Ag and Turf, a big roll of net wrap from Hendershot Equipment, a portable handheld Stihl blower from McMasters New Holland.

Our hay show winners received certificates and prizes. The winners were:

Overall: Guy Pegues of Decatur, DeWalt Cordless 1/2-inch drill (Lowe’s Home Improvement) and Oakfield hay probe (Wise County Livestock and Forage Committee)

Perennial warm season grass: Suzy Willeford of Alvord, cordless 1/2-inch Drill (Lowe’s Home Improvement) and Oakfield hay probe (Wise County Livestock and Forage Committee)

Mixed grass: Chad Cox of Paradise, Oakfield soil sampling probe (Wise County Livestock and Forage Committee)

Cool season annual grass: Steve Misner of Rhome, Oakfield soil sampling probe (Wise County Livestock and Forage Committee)

A big hats off to Lowe’s Home Improvement Center and manager Dave Yocum. We appreciate their willingness to donate these great prizes to our top two winners. A big hats off to my Livestock and Forage Committee for the great prizes and their leadership and direction in our ag programs. A special thanks to Carla Payne, David Byers and Jarrod Montford for their help with the show.

It was a pleasure to work with all of our sponsors, vendors, caterers and speakers to help educate and direct our Wise County hay producers in their quest to be the best.

Marty Morgan is the Wise County agriculture extension agent through Texas A&M AgriLife Extension.

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