Much of the western U.S. is dotted with old gold mining sites. While some of the mines followed veins, much of the gold was actually obtained through placer mining – the process whereby stream-bed gravel is scooped into a round pan and gently swirled or agitated until the gold sinks to the bottom of the pan and the gravel is gently washed over the sides. It was hard work. You had to want it bad.

People ask where I got my mittens, my saddle blanket, my wild rag, my dog’s muffler and my colorful selection of pot holders that hang in my tackroom. I always change the subject, but the time has come to confess.

We are well into winter here in upstate New York, albeit not as cold as last year. The trees have shed their leaves, which form a deep mat of organic matter on the woodlot floor. The pastures are green in spots, covered with snow in others, and the surface waters are cold and flowing toward New York City reservoirs.

There is a lot of time and money invested when seeding in a new alfalfa crop. The plan is for that crop to pay that back with profits for years to come, but sometimes it doesn’t work out as planned.

With strong dairy margins in 2014, U.S. milk production continues to increase, with 16.5 billion pounds produced in November, according to the USDA’s most recent data. This represents a 3.4 percent increase over the prior year.

On Jan. 29, JBS USA, a processor of fresh and value-added beef products, announced a $75 million expansion project at its Hyrum, Utah, beef processing complex. The project includes a new state-of-the-art fabrication building, a new cutting-edge ground beef facility and a new distribution center. The complete project will allow for the increase of production levels by more than 400 head per day, improve plant efficiencies and expand the business's offerings of high-quality beef and ground beef products for customers.

The inventory of all cattle and calves was at 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.