Latest News From Beef Production

CAB Insider: Carcass Premium Spreads Continue Strength
CAB Insider: Carcass Premium Spreads Continue Strength

The shift to tighter fed cattle supplies and smaller slaughter head counts pushed year to date (YTD) fed cattle prices up 22% on average for the year.

Mastering Temporary Wire Fencing: Key Strategies for Cattle Owners
Mastering Temporary Wire Fencing: Key Strategies for Cattle Owners

Leasing pasture is common in the beef industry, especially for those just getting started. However, fencing leased pastures can be a challenge depending on the conditions of the existing fences.

Anaplasmosis: An Ongoing Battle
Anaplasmosis: An Ongoing Battle

With limited options to address the disease, pharmaceutical stewardship must be considered when using antimicrobials in the treatment and control of anaplasmosis to maintain long term effectiveness of these products.

Profit Tracker: Cattle, Hog Margins Worst Since Summer 2020
Profit Tracker: Cattle, Hog Margins Worst Since Summer 2020

The Grinch is writing closeouts ahead of the holidays as cattle and hog profit margins tumble to their lowest point since the summer of 2020, just months into the COVID pandemic.

Peel: Beef Cow Slaughter and Herd Culling
Peel: Beef Cow Slaughter and Herd Culling

The pool of bred beef heifers is likely to remain low going into 2024, keeping the prospects of beef cow herd growth minimal in the coming year.

Mackey: Feeders Win Late-Week Battle
Mackey: Feeders Win Late-Week Battle

Increased packer margins in recent weeks has encouraged a quicker chain speed. That speed likely will not be supported through the end of the year with two Holiday shortened weeks.

Markets: Cash Lower for 6th Week, Futures Higher
Markets: Cash Lower for 6th Week, Futures Higher

Futures markets posted solid gains for the week, but cattle feeders continued to lose marketing leverage as cash prices declined a sixth consecutive week.

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What Are the Benefits of Compensatory Feedlot Gains Following Grazing?

New research at Oklahoma State University is adding to our understanding of stocker cattle nutrition programs and its affect on finishing performance.

Genetic Focus on Improving Beef Sustainability
Genetic Focus on Improving Beef Sustainability

New selection traits are being developed to reduce maintenance energy requirements, increase feed efficiency and decrease methane emissions.

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Do Pasture Management and Nutrient Management Go Hand in Hand?

Looking to improve your grazing and nutrient management? A grazier can affect the manner that nutrients are distributed in a pasture simply by managing the grazing animals.

Finding Power in Regenerative Solutions: Wyoming Ranch Foregoes Commodity Norm
Finding Power in Regenerative Solutions: Wyoming Ranch Foregoes Commodity Norm

Taking the road less traveled, this Wyoming rancher finds reward in running a cattle operation rooted in history, regenerative practices and relationships with the community.

How Do We Improve Percent Calf Crop Weaned?
How Do We Improve Percent Calf Crop Weaned?

The percent calf-crop weaned is of paramount economic importance in a cow-calf operation, so let's examine selection, mating and management to improve reproductive efficiency.

Profit Tracker: Cattle Losses Reach Triple Digits
Profit Tracker: Cattle Losses Reach Triple Digits

Cattle feeding margins fell deeper into the red while packer losses doubled from the prior week. Pork producer margins have now printed red every week for the past year.

Mackey: Feeders Will Seek to Regain Leverage
Mackey: Feeders Will Seek to Regain Leverage

Another round of falling futures produced another round of lower cash bids. Cattle feeders now offer their smallest showlists of the year.

Grants Seek to Address Liver Abscess Formation in Cattle
Grants Seek to Address Liver Abscess Formation in Cattle

Four grants have been awarded by ICASA totaling roughly $1.15 million to identify why liver abscesses occur and develop diagnostic tools to enable informed decision-making to treat the condition.

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Peel : Beef Trade Reacts as Expected

Under current market conditions beef exports are expected to decrease and beef imports should increase...exactly the outcome observed thus far in 2023, says economist Derrell Peel.

Cow Herd Report Card II. Measures of Performance
Cow Herd Report Card II. Measures of Performance

To optimize performance and production, ranchers must understand the factors that impact post-partum interval length (PPI), the time from calving until the cow resumes a fertile estrous cycle.

Markets: Cash Cattle Prices Continue Retreat
Markets: Cash Cattle Prices Continue Retreat

Cash cattle and wholesale beef prices continued their fourth quarter retreat and record heavy carcass weights suggest cattle feeders have lost marketing leverage.

Profit Tracker: Red Ink Flows
Profit Tracker: Red Ink Flows

Cattle feeders and beef packers both printed closeouts with red ink last week, slight advantage packers. Pork producers also operated underwater but pork packers saw improving margins.

Farmers Business Network Launches Revolutionary Profectus™ Feeds
Farmers Business Network Launches Revolutionary Profectus™ Feeds

New precision feed system drives 5% to 15% increase in ROI in beef production. The system balances beef diets for amino acid requirements relative to energy consumption,

Straighten Out Your Herd Records
Straighten Out Your Herd Records

Whether it is data as simple as calving and vaccine records or as encompassing as DNA, weights, foot scores and anything else you can think of; it matters in today’s beef industry.

CAB Insider: Carcass Weights Hit Record Highs
CAB Insider: Carcass Weights Hit Record Highs

Few things in cattle market trends are entirely predictable but the fact that carcass weights peak in November is as close to a sure bet as one could identify.

 Three Common Categories of Pregnancy Losses in Beef Cattle
Three Common Categories of Pregnancy Losses in Beef Cattle

“Although pregnancy losses in beef cattle are a fact of life, late-term losses are likely the most discouraging,” says Gerald Stokka, NDSU Extension veterinarian and livestock stewardship specialist.

 ‘It’s Not the Cow; It’s the How’
‘It’s Not the Cow; It’s the How’

Texas A&M AgriLife researchers investigate the impact of adaptive grazing management on the long-term sustainability and biodiversity of landscapes enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program.

What to Know About Feeding Road Ditch Hay to Cows
What to Know About Feeding Road Ditch Hay to Cows

Road ditch hay can provide needed forage. With a few precautions and a forage analysis, it can help you meet your cow’s nutrient requirements this winter.

Restoring Soil Biodiversity Can Improve Rancher's Bottom Line
Restoring Soil Biodiversity Can Improve Rancher's Bottom Line

Noble Research Institute's Hugh Aljoe encourages ranchers to manage their operations in synchrony with nature and the four ecosystem processes to repair, rebuild, revitalize, and restore the ecosystem function.

Mackey: Futures Rout Gives Packers Cheaper Inventory
Mackey: Futures Rout Gives Packers Cheaper Inventory

Declining cattle futures prices continue to pressure cash prices. The cheaper inventories are working to pad the packer's pocket as evidenced by a few plants operating on Saturdays.

Don’t Let Cold Weather Freeze Cattle Performance This Winter 
Don’t Let Cold Weather Freeze Cattle Performance This Winter 

Help cattle weather the elements and combat cold stress when the temperature drops.

Feeding Corn Silage to Cattle Can Add Value
Feeding Corn Silage to Cattle Can Add Value

Corn silage is an excellent source of energy for cattle and replacing a portion of corn in cattle diets with silage should be a economical solution.

Markets: Cattle Lower as Fundamentals Weaken
Markets: Cattle Lower as Fundamentals Weaken

Market-ready cattle prices have rolled back $10 per cwt. since the end of October and average carcass weights have increased to all-time highs, a sign feedlots are not as current as previously expected.

How Does Cattle Handling and Stockmanship Influence Animal Performance?
How Does Cattle Handling and Stockmanship Influence Animal Performance?

Low-stress cattle handling methods have been discussed and promoted for many years, but could implementing low-stress handling techniques influence animal performance and improve your bottom line?

Protein Supplementation: What to Know Before Purchasing
Protein Supplementation: What to Know Before Purchasing

In developing a protein supplementation strategy, it is important to consider what is the goal of feeding the protein supplement and that not all protein sources are equal.

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Optimize Cattle Health: A Producer's Guide To Vaccine Handling And Storage

Even experienced producers can inadvertently overlook crucial principles during the preparation and administration of vaccines and other animal health products. Here's a few considerations to note.

CAB Insider: Credit End Meats With CAB® Value-Add
CAB Insider: Credit End Meats With CAB® Value-Add

Rib and tenderloins are pricing near their annual highs, but a look at annual price trends across the beef carcass shows increasing contributions to CAB premiums from both ends of the carcass.

Using Genetic Testing to Make Profitable Marketing Decisions
Using Genetic Testing to Make Profitable Marketing Decisions

Genomic tests are a tool that can be used to create strategic marketing plans by taking a small ear tissue sample to compare genome traits of a calf to others in their breed.

Weaning Weight Versus Reproductive Efficiency
Weaning Weight Versus Reproductive Efficiency

What has more value to the profit potential of a commercial cow-calf operation that sells calves at weaning, percent calf crop weaned or weaning weight?

Profit Tracker: Feeding, Packing Margins Remain Red
Profit Tracker: Feeding, Packing Margins Remain Red

Cattle feeding margins fell deeper into the red last week while packer margins improved modestly. Pork producer margins erode further underwater.

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Cow and Heifer Slaughter Indicates Continued Herd Liquidation

A strong seasonal increase in beef cow slaughter suggests further reduction in the overall beef cow inventory on Jan. 1, 2024.

Cash Cattle Lower During Holiday Week
Cash Cattle Lower During Holiday Week

Light cattle sales volumes were recorded in all regions during Thanksgiving week with cash prices generally $1 lower than the previous week, marking the fourth consecutive week with lower cash prices.

Preventing Reproductive Losses: Secrets to a Healthy and Profitable Cattle Herd
Preventing Reproductive Losses: Secrets to a Healthy and Profitable Cattle Herd

An experienced veterinarian, Dr. Jeff Sarchet, shares how cow/calf producers can manage risk and protect profit with a complete and up-to-date pre-breeding vaccination protocol for both cows and replacement heifers.

Hall of Fame Football Coach Credits Indiana Farm Roots
Hall of Fame Football Coach Credits Indiana Farm Roots

Indiana farmer Russ Radtke celebrates his ag roots while building a legacy on the football field as the second-winningest high school football coach in state history.

What Is the Proper Placement and Construction of Windbreaks?
What Is the Proper Placement and Construction of Windbreaks?

Winter is coming and with it, snow and wind. Cattle and farmsteads both can benefit from proper windbreaks. There are two main types of windbreak function on a farm: livestock wind chill protection and snow windbreaks.

Cold Weather Nutrition Needs in Beef Cows
Cold Weather Nutrition Needs in Beef Cows

Cattle producers know that cold temperatures mean extra supplement and hay may be needed. But how much extra feed are we talking about?

Prevention of Respiratory Disease in Feedlot-Bound Cattle Pays
Prevention of Respiratory Disease in Feedlot-Bound Cattle Pays

More calves born on dairies than ever before are eventually headed to feedyards these days. Performance and profitability merits sending healthy animals from the calf-rearing stage to the feedlot.

Capturing Value: Marketing Strategies for Cattlemen
Capturing Value: Marketing Strategies for Cattlemen

An Angus University session on marketing cattle brings together seedstock producers, commercial cattlemen and industry representatives.

Profit Tracker: Cattle Margins Fall Underwater
Profit Tracker: Cattle Margins Fall Underwater

Cattle feeding margins declined nearly $100 per head last week with lower cash bids and rising costs. Pork producer margins remain mired in red ink.

Get Ready for the Next Cold Snap
Get Ready for the Next Cold Snap

When cows get below their lower critical temperature and get into cold stress, they can adapt by increasing feed consumption to increase their basal metabolic rate and increase heat of fermentation.

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Strong Feeder Cattle Sales Boost Feedlot Numbers

A combination of factors has contributed to increasing feedlot placements the past two months, including drought and increasing imports. But biggest factor is likely that producers are taking advantage of strong prices.

Mackey: COF Relieves Some Anxiety, But Packers Throttle Back Harvest
Mackey: COF Relieves Some Anxiety, But Packers Throttle Back Harvest

Friday’s COF placement numbers provided a friendly lean to a market that has suffered consecutive weeks of falling futures and lower cash bids. Sellers hope to leverage the short week ahead with higher asking prices.

The Value of Hay as Fertilizer
The Value of Hay as Fertilizer

This time of year, many producers are feeding cows hay. Have you ever stopped to think about what the dollar value of the nutrients in the hay are worth as fertilizer once they have been processed by the cow?