The USDA has updated three key crop insurance options for livestock producers: the Dairy Revenue Protection (Dairy-RP), Livestock Gross Margin (LGM) and Livestock Risk Protection (LRP).

Stocking rate is defined as the number of animals per unit area over a given period of time and is often reported as animals per acre or pounds of animal bodyweight per acre.

Observation and reflection seem to be lost arts in a world dominated by phone screens, datasets and short attention spans. As we enter the grazing season, I challenge you to observe and reflect when watching cows graze.

If one theme has persisted over the past year, it is the constant reminder of drought in the West. Even with the moisture this spring, many ranchers have had to make difficult management decisions to stay afloat in recent months.

Assuming there is not a major disease or bull issue, cow body condition score (BCS) is the number one factor that impacts pregnancy rates.

In the first quarter of 2022, federally inspected (FI) nonfed cattle slaughter reached volumes not seen since the mid-1980s, based on USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) estimated and actual weekly slaughter data through the week ending April 2, 2022.

Last month, we embarked on a series of articles around the theme “If you want good employees, be a good employer.” I suggested that a great way to address the current employment challenge is to implement a performance improvement system.