Dark-cutting beef can mean a significant discount for beef producers. USDA’s Market News Service from March 12 showed a discount of $33.91 per hundredweight on a carcass basis.

For decades, cow-calf producers have immunized young cattle for bovine respiratory disease (BRD) as a service to buyers of feeder cattle and a way to add value to their calf crop.

“If I fence that, will you let me run some cows out there?”

As the beef cattle industry focuses on stewardship in animal health and antimicrobial use, we are continually reminded to follow FDA labels on all animal products.

As we get closer to spring and begin to think about green grass and grazing cattle, it is a good time to evaluate your mineral supplementation program. It takes more than just energy and protein to ensure optimal health and performance of beef cattle.

One of the most common topics discussed when feeding pasture and breeding cattle is protein. Producers are concerned with crude protein in their hays, pastures, supplements and so on.

Minerals have jobs in nearly every biological process that occurs in the cow’s body – from the ability to get the cow bred, to bone and muscle growth of both cow and calf, to successful calving of a heathy calf.

The summer heat can be hard on pastures, cows and calves, especially first-calf cows. These cows are in a special class as they are still trying to maintain body condition, actively grow, support reproduction by gestating with a second calf and lactating.

I’m proud to say I was a vocational student, even though the rest of my high school looked down on us, and we were quarantined far from the regular campus.