Breeding season has a way of sneaking up on you. One minute you’re finishing up calving, and the next you’re turning bulls out or timing when to inseminate and hoping everything lines up the way it should. It’s a busy time, but it may also be the most important few weeks of the entire year.

Whatever the combination of market, forage and cow health conditions emerge as the year wears on, says Brackenbury, “That’s the beauty of livestock – you always have to be prepared and have a willingness to adapt. You never know what kind of event will come.”

Heavy rains exposed how vulnerable these flat, watershed‑fed fields had become after decades of conventional grain farming. Transitioning to organic row crops revealed how little organic matter remained to absorb extreme weather.

Native warm‑season grasses once dominated landscapes across the U.S., evolving under centuries of heat, drought and weather extremes. Their efficiency, resilience and low-input needs offer cattle producers a powerful forage option.