SAN ANTONIO, Texas -

Texas Deer Association Executive Director Karl Kinsel was a featured speaker during the recent 79th Annual Meeting of ASFMRA (American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers), held at the Marriott Rivercenter Hotel in San Antonio.

As part of the conference, nearly 200 professional farm managers and rural appraisers toured numerous sites in Southwest Texas along the Seco Creek — including the 150-foot-deep Seco Creek Sinkhole in northwestern Medina County — and welcomed a one-hour discussion led by Kinsel, who spoke on the deer industry and wildlife management.

“With so many land management professionals in attendance, this is a great opportunity for TDA to share information regarding the business of habitat and wildlife management and recreational hunting in Texas,” says Kinsel, whose family owns and operated Kinsel Cattle Company in Cotulla, Texas. “Successful agricultural land management and wildlife management are uniquely intertwined. The changing economic and demographic landscapes compel all of us to work together, share ideas and develop new strategies that will ensure we preserve our agricultural heritage.”

In his “State of the Deer Industry” address, Kinsel explained that unprecedented change in American economy and culture is creating new challenges and opportunities for land owners and managers. With domestic and global market forces, technology, alternative fuels, government policy and demographic variables, the agriculture and rural landscapes are changing at an accelerating rate.

The rise of modern game management and funding, explains Kinsel, has created a lucrative alternative in agriculture and land use options. Through professional herd management, habitat management, hunter management and herd monitoring, the deer industry is one of the fastest growing in rural America and can offer economic solutions for land managers in many parts of the country.

Founded in 1929, the American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers is a benchmark organization for agricultural resource valuation and farm management. The organization empowers rural and agricultural property economics professionals through technical education and networking and its members provide professional management, valuation, consulting and marketing of the world’s agricultural resources.

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