“It’s a way of solving your problems and managing your workload.” That’s how Belle Fourche, South Dakota, rancher Chance Davis describes his “no excuses” approach to the breeding season – and his culling of cows and heifers that do not fit his reproductive standards.

Look at it this way: Forage efficiency in cattle means more cash in a producer’s pocket and higher margins for feedlot operators.

Ron McBee has heard the experts, attended countless symposiums, been appointed to select state grazing commissions and given numerous speeches. But when it’s all said and done, the Fayette, Missouri, producer remains firm that successful controlled grazing comes down to one factor – simplicity.

In the U.S., 65.8 percent of beef calves are born between January and April, based on USDA survey data.This requires intense nutritional management of cows at times of highest nutrient requirements (late gestation and early lactation).

Beef producers throughout the Northwest can depend on the DG29™ bovine blood pregnancy test from Genex Cooperative, Inc. for quick and accurate pregnancy diagnosis. To use the test, producers draw blood samples from cattle on the farm or ranch, forward the samples to a certified laboratory and receive pregnancy diagnosis results via email, fax or mail. To ensure timely turnaround and highly accurate results, AgSource Laboratories in Jerome, Idaho, is now a certified DG29 testing laboratory.

When it comes to cattle restraint and capture, I suppose my family is not all that different from a lot of ranching families. My brother and I always figured the best way to doctor any critter, no matter the ailment, was to rope it. If a yearling had a burr in its tail – rope it. Bad eye, snotty nose, black hide, red hide – rope it. My dad, on the other hand, tends to always (so it seemed to us) prefer the gentleman farmer approach – run it in the corral and into the chute. So, on average, we always use best management practices, I suppose.