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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Cash cattle and wholesale beef prices continued their fourth quarter retreat and record heavy carcass weights suggest cattle feeders have lost marketing leverage.
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.
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,
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.
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.
“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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
Despite recent market declines, many factors point towards an overall bullish cattle market in the months ahead. Jeff Clark of Corteva Agriscience, suggests producers start the rebuilding process in the pastures first.
Prices for market-ready cattle have tumbled $7 to $8 per cwt. since the beginning of the month even as supplies remain relatively tight. Volatility continues in the futures market.
With a long window and investment to determine a heifer’s fate in the herd, producers should take advantage of genomic testing to get accurate information on maternal, performance, and carcass traits.
Buddy Rowlett of Richmond, Kansas covers the basics of managing added snow pressure with fence design, working with frozen ground and offers a creative solution for electric fences during winter storms.
Reported national feeder cattle volumes (auction, direct and video/internet) are up 5.6% year-over-year since Labor Day, with the majority in September which contributed to the large September feedlot placements.