Since the purchase price of calves is currently high, there can be a wide price spread between the purchase price of cattle that came from a good vaccination and health program versus cattle that have not.

The USDA’s latest Cattle on Feed report, published May 24, showed that 1.87 million head of fed cattle were marketed in April, a more than 10% increase from the same period last year.

The number of straws of beef semen sold to the dairy industry has more than doubled in the last five years, although dairy cow numbers have been relatively stagnant. So what has changed?

CattleFax Vice President of Research and Risk Management Services Mike Murphy’s message about feed prices and availability for the coming year was cautiously optimistic. Even as the end appears to be in sight for countless farmers and ranchers who have dealt with historic drought conditions across the country the past couple years, the economic effects of that drought remain.