Beef production business and ranch managers have been anticipating and preparing for the fall busy season including weaning, selling calves, vaccinations, fall calving, etc., for weeks. Now it is time for managers to be doers. Right? Well, yes and no.

The cooler temperatures bring a flurry of activities on the cattle farm and ranch. From breeding time to cows ready to calve to weaning calves, there’s plenty of cattle production activities to keep everyone on the go.

Cow-calf producers are expected to make $709 per cow over cash costs, including pasture, in 2024. These levels are nearly identical to the inflation-adjusted highs experienced by producers in 2014 ($534 in 2014 dollars, $708 in 2024 dollars).

Imagine this: You get a call today from your video sale rep, and they say, “We can offer you $275.93 per hundredweight (steers and heifers) for your 2025 calf crop.”

If you own or lease any amount of rural land for livestock or crop production, then you have likely encountered obstacles arising from the division of the surface and mineral estates and the impact that can have on your use of the land.

In this day and age, the administrative state touches our lives more and more, especially in agriculture, where we have seen more regulations around water, natural resources and labor. However, regulations in the agricultural industry and the enforcement of those regulations are not new.

Have you ever heard the saying, “Farmers are the poorest millionaires you’ll ever know”? Millionaire status is not based on the amount of money someone has sitting in the bank but rather their overall net worth.

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines trust as “an assured reliance on the character, ability, strength or truth of someone or something; dependence on something future or contingent: hope.”

Even though sustainability has been a frequent topic of discussion among animal and natural resource stewards and consumers alike, there remains confusion within the industry regarding what sustainability actually involves.

Feedlot operators tap into their hard-earned instincts almost every minute of every day. Most also lean into data and information. When critical decisions need to be made, it can be difficult to choose the right lane. Should instinct or data guide the thinking, or is there an overlap? If they’re both valuable, how do producers find their appropriate balance?