Clay’s passion was always cattle. He wanted to get back to the home place in Starr, South Carolina, and start a cattle operation in the worst way and with the quickest route possible.

Last week one of our cows died unexpectedly. Fortunately, we experience minimal loss, but when it does occur, we are sad. I’ve heard negative commentaries suggesting ranchers don’t care about the lives of their cattle, but those of you in the fields with us know that nothing could be further from the truth.

If ever there was a busy time in a producer’s life, it is right around the time decisions are made for which animals head to the sale barn. At the end of long days, it is easy to skip over any further management for those cattle earmarked for sale and focus on the retained or growing herd that stays. A few simple considerations and actions, however, can be the difference in dollars per head once those cattle go through the sale ring.

Representing the future of the cow herd, replacement heifers must be managed with the end in mind – that is to maintain an efficient, productive cow-calf operation.

“How to Not Go Broke Ranching” was the title of a presentation by Walt Davis at the 2017 Texas Grazing Conference. Davis has spent approximately 50 years as a working rancher with interests in west Texas and in southeast Oklahoma.

It is once again the time of year cow-calf producers and seedstock producers begin to look forward to, and prepare for, the upcoming seedstock producers’ annual sales.

Often called pneumonia or shipping fever, bovine respiratory disease (BRD) is costly for the livestock industry, especially in feedlot cattle, but also a concern in cow-calf herds.

You start with some bone-in cuts of beef, and additional beef bones, and roast them at 375ºF for 30 minutes. Transfer all meat, bones and drippings to a slow cooker. Add chunks of carrots, onions, celery and mushrooms.

Brazilian meat company Minerva SA expects to resume exports to the U.S. in the first quarter of 2018, Reuters reports. Minerva SA Chief Executive Fernando Galletti told reporters plans are dependent on decisions within the government.

Cattle on feed inventories continue to remain above year-earlier levels, and placements continue to reflect the increasing cattle inventory. The number of cattle on feed in feedlots with a capacity of 1,000 head or greater on Nov. 1, 2017, was 6 percent above Nov. 1, 2016, and 5 percent above Nov. 1, 2015.