Mora County, New Mexico, population 4,700, recently passed a ban on oil and gas production in the county that has pitted neighbors against each other. Signs across the county contain a photo of a cow and read either “Farming Not Fracking” or “Water Not Fracking.”

I grew up on a diversified crop and livestock farm in central Iowa during a time when corn silage was the predominant ration ingredient for both growing and finishing beef cattle. It was and is a consistent, high-quality source of both energy and forage.

Nathan Boies left his home ranch in northeastern Nevada and joined the military in 2001, completing a combat tour in Iraq as a scout-sniper.

West Texas A&M University’s Department of Agricultural Sciences and industry professionals have teamed up to create a new breed of beef cattle – backwards.

There are only 29 million beef cows in the U.S. – the lowest inventory since 1962. And the combination of increasing world population and an increasing standard of living in most developing countries will result in increased demand for meat over the next several decades. Providing an increased supply of beef at a reasonable price will be difficult, particularly if sustainable production methods are to be used.

Free-choice supplementation extends pasture, reduces labor requirements on Texas ranch

In the arid, high-desert country of the Great Basin, folks have learned to get by on not much more than hope, faith and a few acres of alkali ground covered with greasewood, sage and four-winged saltbush.

Storing big round hay bales by lining them up along the fencerow may be easy, but it is not economical. Baled forage probably constitutes the highest percentage of winter feed cost we have wrapped up in a cow.

Ruminal acidosis continues to be a common digestive disorder in feedlot cattle and in dairy cows, and it occurs when the rate of acid production is greater than the rate at which acid is neutralized (saliva buffering) and cleared (absorption) from the rumen.

SWEET MEATSChocolate-covered chicken kidneys, beef liver or sliced pork tongue, expensively and individually wrapped in foil. PENCIL-THIN MEATSThe closest thing you can get to jerky and still pay fresh meat prices.