The grazing season is in full swing and dry conditions persist on some Western ranches. Every dry period results in a different set of circumstances, so a variety of resource (forage, cattle and capital) management options should be considered.

As I look at the current drought monitor map for the week ending May 15, 2018, and compare it to the map for the week ending Feb. 13, 2018, the changes are mixed. Fewer total acres of Oklahoma and Texas are in the drought or abnormally dry categories.

Beef production for 2019 is projected to expand to 27.7 billion pounds, 1.8 percent above 2018. Cattle placements during second-half 2018 and early 2019 are anticipated to be marginally higher, and these cattle will be slaughtered during 2019.

It’s been a few years since we heard from Progressive Cattleman readers in a survey. So this year, we invited readers once again to respond to questions about their herds, operations and production methods. Here’s what they told us.

Beef. It’s what’s for lunch in Mount Vernon, Missouri, public schools.

Wanted: ranch hand $25,000 salary Housing provided Cow-calf experience required

Colin Woodall, senior vice president of government affairs for the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA), told producers at the Texoma Cattlemen’s Conference that beef interests are hitting a high peak of negotiations headed into the summer, as they relate to transport rules, the farm bill, export trade and beef labeling.

Challenges facing rangeland managers in the western U.S. have never been greater. Contemporary problems, including expansion of exotic annual grasses such as cheatgrass and the associated increase in wildfire, impact most of the western U.S.

Thanks to the productivity of the American farmer and rancher, inventories of most grains, oil seeds and sources of meat protein are plentiful.

With shrinking margins caused by the influx of dairy cull cows into the beef market and recent increases in the protein markets, feeders are forced once again to find low-cost alternatives to their feeding program.