Marianna- Ranchers from the tri-state area spent Friday at the North Florida Research and Education Center in Greenwood to learn the latest and greatest techniques to raise their cattle.

"I hope to pick up something that we could use at home that would fit in with what we do," said former Gadsden County Agriculture Agent Bobby Durden.

At one of the several stop-off points, they learned all the different feed available nowadays, from cotton to peanut shells. Feed was also one of the main topics of the day because of the summer's extremely dry weather.

Ranchers said this year's drought had a major impact on cattle feed, with hay getting hit pretty hard, some yields cut in half.

"Cattle producers have had to buy feed at far higher costs too, so the input costs have probably increased somewhere in the range of 30 to 50 percent," said Dr. Cliff Lamb, professor and assistant director of N.F.R.E.C.

But the drought wasn't all bad news. Dr. Lamb said it actually could end up helping farmers in the long run.

"Cattle prices are really going to increase, they've already increased. And if we can really control our input costs, ultimately the cattle industry is going to have some very good years ahead of them," said Lamb.

Jackson County is considered the biggest cattle county in North Florida with more than 20,000 cows.