Welcome to the first of three episodes of our coverage of NCBA 2024. In this episode, Carrie Veselka visits with Rob Cook, president of the National Grazing Lands Coalition, on strategies to improve grazing, Abby George discusses the impact and management of BVDV with George Perry of Texas A&M University, and Tyrell Marchant talks prenatal cattle nutrition with Ted Perry from Purina Animal Health.

Everything – soil health, pasture productivity, the symbiotic relationship between grass and cattle – is interrelated. When trying to fit this all together, Riley and Jimmie Kammerer became part of something much bigger. Something good.

When to market your calf crop is one of the most important decisions that a producer must make and can have a significant impact on your operation’s profitability. Market dynamics are usually the main drivers behind when a producer decides to sell their calves.

Driving down the county road past drought-stricken fields of sandy, caliche soil in south-central Texas’s Wilson County, you’d be forgiven for thinking it might not be the most fertile ground in the world. But for the Lyssy family, this is the perfect place to grow a cow herd, a family and a legacy.

Instead of the dairy farmer focusing on growing, harvesting and feeding rations, the focus changes to growing and managing pastures and controlling the cows’ utilization of those pastures with the goal to optimize cow nutrition, pasture quality, pasture yield and overall soil health.

Using overhead photos and high-resolution remote sensing can be like using a nutcracker to crack a walnut. These methods can more precisely pinpoint variations in plant communities and plant density than the coarser methods.

Herd rebuilding or expansion must start with enabling grazing land to support the additional animals over the long term.

Using cattle to graze standing forage can significantly reduce feed costs and aid in decreasing the cost of production.