Spring is my favorite time of the year. The strain of calving season is wrapping up, and the days are getting longer with warm weather setting in for good.

Developing a nutritional program that meets the needs of lactation and facilitates a return to cyclicity before the subsequent breeding season takes an understanding of how cattle partition nutrients and how that impacts their overall nutritional requirements.

Discussions of stress are not uncommon in cattle production. A great deal of this discussion is often focused on the stress typical for the weaned/transition calf and its common journey though the U.S. marketing system, which involves a lot of handling and transportation.

For those who see the opportunity to expand, if they use their data and invest where they get the biggest return, they stand the highest chance of success. Will the beef cow herd continue to shrink, or will we see some expansion? Only time will tell.

Cattle have a requirement and desire for salt, but many producers have been misled to believe that salt blocks, especially trace mineral salt blocks, provide adequate trace mineral.

It’s imperative that weaning goes perfectly because a calf in today’s economic cycle is worth at least $1,500. However, one very important thing can easily be forgotten: the calf’s nutritional plan from now until weaning. Will the cattle be ready when weaning day arrives?

The influence of mineral on your cattle’s performance – and the potential impact of that performance on your profitability – can’t be overstated.

As a cattle nutritionist, Ted Perry talks to people every day – like cattle owners with real-time problems – and translates the research into real help.

Ranching brings rewards, but it’s not all “sunshine and rainbows.” With drought and high input costs in the balance, it takes sharp management decisions to keep black ink on the bottom line.