The nuance of feeding breeding stock takes on greater dimension compared to feeder cattle because of the long-term considerations required of breeding stock. In a broad sense, the goal with replacement heifers is to give them the nutritional foundation for success that will hopefully allow them to produce eight to 10 big, healthy calves in their productive lifetime.

Budgets help ranchers plan ahead so they can meet financial obligations such as loan payments and monthly bills. 

Jennifer Redd Westfall is owner and operator of Redd Ranches based in Colorado. The family runs a Red Angus-based seedstock operation that also incorporates Angus, Simmental and Gelbvieh genetics. Jennifer oversees the registered herd and is actively involved in the day-to-day ranch management.

Cattle producers use a variety of tactics when handling acute or chronically sick animals in cold winter weather. Some pull them for treatment before placing them in a series of designated hospital pens, while others prefer to return almost all to their home pens.

For some cattle producers, drought is an expected and reoccurring event that is part of the management environment.

Hydroponic forages, or forages grown using a specially formulated combination of water and light – no soil required – are not a new technology. Increased pressures to find sources of quality feed through several years of persistent drought, along with the appeal of a land- and water-efficient, environmentally friendly source of high-quality forages has spurred a growing interest in using hydroponic forages in the U.S.

There is an increased focus on the feed industry and hay markets as producers scramble to determine how they will combat low forage supplies this winter.