Can you outguess Mother Nature? What is a “normal” year for weather? What do you consider a normal year? Every rancher has an idea in their mind what a normal year entails for their production cycle of cattle and grass for the area where they live and ranch.

It is easy to focus on your cows and calves this time of year. As your bulls provide 50% of the genetics in your calf crop, it is also important to evaluate your herd’s performance from the bull’s point of view.

Swath grazing is an economic management strategy that helps ranchers extend their grazing practices into the spring and winter months. It has been shown that swath grazing can reduce the cost of beef production by over 40%.

Well-managed forage programs are a key aspect of any dairy operation, and tools such as MILK2024 are valuable metrics to help make decisions on both the quality and quantity of feed harvested. As technology implementation increases, it is critical to assess what works for an operation and what doesn’t. Understanding the potential impact of these decisions on milk production can help producers do just that. 

Fall is a wonderful season for agriculture and a time to, hopefully, reap the bounty of the year’s production.