In the previous Progressive Dairyman safety article, we discussed the importance of owner and management commitment to an on-farm safety program. The article communicated that it is imperative that owners and managers become involved and participate in a safety program.

By now you’ve heard, seen or experienced for yourself the thrilling reality that the beef cattle industry is thriving in 2015. At this year’s CattleFax Outlook seminar in San Antonio, CEO Randy Blach made a compelling comment, saying how he wished his parents were still around to see the phenomenal run of cattle prices we see today.

Using co-products from other industries as sources for nutrients for beef cattle is nothing new to beef producers and nutritionists.

Some years are worse than others for grasshopper populations. Problems occur when environmental conditions lead to higher-than-normal numbers and “grasshopper outbreaks,” which cause millions of dollars’ worth of damage to crops and rangelands.

Landowners throughout the Southwest have long wrestled with the exploding numbers of feral hogs in their region. But a newly developed method for trapping hogs could flip the momentum.

The inventory of all cattle and calves was 89.8 million head on Jan. 1, 2015, up 1.4 percent from one year ago but, except for last year, still the smallest total herd inventory since 1952. The 2014 calf crop was up 0.5 percent from 2013 at 33.9 million head. The 2014 calf crop percentage (calf crop as a percent of all cows) was 88.5 percent, the highest percentage since 2006.

The Sage-Grouse Initiative (SGI) is one of our shining stars at the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service; it’s become the model for voluntary, incentive-based conservation at its best.

Drought continues in the Southern Plains and Southwestern U.S., although its intensity has abated somewhat. The U.S. Drought Monitor at year’s end showed an improved situation for cattle country compared with the previous month.

The Endangered Species Act (ESA) has been in the news frequently as of late. The fairly recent listings of the lesser prairie chicken and New Mexico jumping mouse have caused a slew of controversy and litigation. Conversely, a federal judge in Utah recently struck down the listing of the Utah prairie dog, finding it to be an overreach of federal power.