Ranchers look at cattle, equipment, fences and buildings as investments. Needs are determined, requirements discussed and cost and return are analyzed before they are purchased or built. Ranch employees are also a ranch investment.

Charged with highlighting the effects of the deemphasized decision-making process behind breeding decisions at the commercial level, Western Kentucky University faculty Nevil Speer opened the 2013 Beef Improvement Federation (BIF) Symposium in Oklahoma City.

Members of the Ridgetown Agri-Food Foundation (RAFF) recently accepted a donation of $200,000 by DuPont Pioneer, an advanced seed company.

Alltech, a global animal health and nutrition company, has launched a program to recognize the hard work of dairy farmers.

Officials at Gallagher North America, a producer of animal management systems, say that this summer the company will donate 1 percent of all participating dealer purchases of its fencing products and scales to the nonprofit organization, Armed Forces Foundation (AFF). The two have partnered for “Save Our Troops,” a program that aims to help America’s servicemen and women.  

The findings of a five-month study indicate that a properly written federal milk marketing order for California would provide a regulatory structure that would potentially result in higher farm gate prices, according to three milk cooperatives, which in turn would benefit dairy families in the Golden State.