Dale Sauls was no stranger to “fixed-time” artificial insemination. The Florida native had used the reproductive management tool in his commercial dairy operation. So when he and his wife, Connie, moved with their daughters to Mountain Grove, Missouri three years ago, it was only natural for them to incorporate fixed-time AI into their beef herd.

The task of raising useful seedstock comes with many hurdles. Outfits must forge a path in a competitive industry where creating the right product in the 21st century is just half the battle.

The following is a fictional story based on real results from a three-year university study.* Two neighboring ranchers met often at the local coffee shop to argue the merits of their different approaches to cow-calf management. Tom Tightfist was convinced that cutting feed expenses was the only way to improve profits, while his buddy, Sam Spendabuck, believed increasing inputs would net better returns. It was a friendly but passionate argument.

Delivery of a live, healthy calf is a complex process. Thankfully, in a high percentage of cattle this process proceeds uneventfully and new generations of calves are born with little or no fanfare.

Cattle producers have known for a long time that wild cattle were probably less profitable than their calmer contemporaries, but there wasn’t a great deal of hard data to back up this suspicion.

Winter’s short days and long, cold nights often bring less outdoor activity and more time to rest, physically and mentally. Both man and beast benefit from rest and recuperation.

Quite a few years back, when I had ground leased in several locations, I found myself with some extra pasture. This was well before the crisis in genetic defects ever came into view on this side of the horizon. I had a friend with some registered Shorthorns who was short of feed. We got together and he shipped a load down to me and I had that extra pasture problem just go away.

I can’t remember how many songs Martin wrote, probably half of my notebook full of livin’ room hits! I guess nobody knew me as well as Martin. All those sad love songs, honky tonk songs, funny ones, bluegrass, country, cowboy, even the occasional gospel song, he heard first.

Synchronization programs for artificial insemination (AI) have changed a little over the years. Experience and improvements to the synchronization technology probably have modified these programs enough to where almost any outfit can adapt to a protocol, depending on time and labor resources.