With high feeder cattle prices, it may be tempting to look for cheaper sources of calves. Often, these cattle that are below the market come with unknown vaccination records, genetics and nutritional status. The market has already factored in the increased costs of high-morbidity, high-mortality, high-risk cattle.

One of the beef industry’s greatest strengths is its diversity. However, this segmentation often results in a calf being transported as many as four to six times prior to harvest, with each transit event inducing stress.

Growing up, there were several days that brought anxiety to the ranch: branding and sale day were probably the biggest. While there were a million things that could impact the success of branding day (mainly rain and having enough help), when it came to sale day, the entire family knew the importance of what was riding on that single day.