Recently announced, Dr. Rick Machen accepted the Robert J. Kleberg Jr. and Helen C. Kleberg Endowed Director with The King Ranch Institute for Ranch Management.

While most producers understand and appreciate the fact that heterosis (also known as hybrid vigor) exists and can improve their operations’ bottom lines, the question remains in many minds: Where exactly does heterosis come from?

A disruption in distillery inventory in February was one source of gasoline prices spiking after several weeks of gradual decline at the pump.
BP’s refinery in Whiting, Indiana, experienced an unplanned outage in early February and was expected to return to full production in March, according to reporting by Reuters. The plant produces 435,000 barrels per day in regular operations.

The USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) released its semiannual Cattle report on Jan. 31. The total of all cattle and calves on Jan. 1, 2024, was estimated at 87.157 million head, about 1.7 million fewer than the previous year.

As the Smokehouse Creek Fire in the Texas Panhandle swept past the million-acre mark, becoming the largest wildfire in the state’s history, Gov. Greg Abbott declared a disaster in 60 counties. As of the morning of March 1, Texas A&M Forest Service reports that the blaze is 15% contained and has now spread into neighboring Oklahoma.