Gathering cows to diagnose pregnancy is one of many fixtures on a cow-calf production calendar. The day’s primary objective is making a “pregnant” or “open” call, but another priority should be assessing each cow’s long-term future. Can she comfortably make it another year in the herd?

In order to have healthy animals, producers must understand the normal health attributes of livestock, routinely monitor their animals and make management changes when necessary.

The September World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates report (WASDE) showed the U.S. corn outlook has smaller supplies and a modest decline in ending stocks. Projected beginning stocks for 2024-25 are 55 million bushels lower based on increases in exports and corn used for ethanol for 2023-24.

Working hard works, well, until it doesn’t. And it doesn’t always work when my girls enter the show ring for the market judging class during the county fair.

Stress on cattle is inevitable, but producers know the goal is to manage and mitigate the stresses animals experience, including transportation, weaning, parturition, dietary and nutritional changes, predation, commingling, vaccination, diseases and infections. 

Whether your veterinarian is coming out to examine a sick animal or for a herd working event, there are some simple best practices you can implement to help make their time on your farm as efficient as possible.

Succession planning is being addressed across the nation to help farmers and ranchers plan to pass down an operation to the next generation.

Grazing conditions are always a hot topic for producers throughout the year, and growing conditions vary year to year and across the country. Progressive Cattle asked readers, "How are grass conditions in your area looking for the rest of the grazing season?”

Leaving sufficient residual plant material (leaves, lower stem bases and crowns) is essential to maximize next year’s production for perennial grasses.

If the local farming community’s coffee row were surveyed about the beef industry’s major players, the rancher, feedlot operator and packing plants would likely dominate responses.