Editor’s Note: Follow along as Progressive Cattleman editors share conversations and news learned from the road in the new ‘Trail Rides’ blog.

How will the expansion of the global beef market, especially with new consumer bases opening up in China and around the world, affect the U.S. cattle producer?

This year we had a lease deal fall apart, and it really upset the apple cart. It caused financial hardship, emotions were high, stress levels went through the roof, and we were faced with the question a lot of people have been faced with at one time or another: Is it over? Where do we go from here and what will we do if something else doesn’t work out?

“This has been one of the few years in history when every segment of the industry made money. And that doesn’t happen very often,” said Duane Lenz, general manager of CattleFax, at the California Cattleman’s Association annual convention in Reno, Nevada. Generally, one segment of the cattle market makes a profit at the expense of another segment.

As the year is coming to an end, this is the perfect time to start thinking about next year and what you need to do to be prepared come vaccination time. You want to keep your herd’s health in the best possible condition, and a vaccination plan is the best way to do that.

The USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) announced Dec. 5 that it is updating the voluntary U.S. Standards for Grades of Carcass Beef.

The latest weekly carcass weight data for the week ending on Nov. 18 showed steer carcass weights at 902 pounds for the third consecutive week. This is likely the seasonal peak in carcass weights and is up 70 pounds from the seasonal low of 832 pounds in early May.

John Deere introduces two new Gators HPX615E Built for varied work applications, John Deere introduces two new utility vehicles to its lineup. The gas-powered Gator HPX615E and the diesel-powered Gator HPX815E models offer four-wheel drive for improved terrain capability and superior payload, cargo capacity, towing and overall stability.

The United Nations estimates that world population will reach 9.7 billion by 2050. This growth will drive up food demand by a projected 59% to 98% according to a Harvard Business Review article. “This will shape agricultural markets in ways we have not seen before. Farmers worldwide will need to increase crop production, either by increasing the amount of agricultural land to grow crops or by enhancing productivity on existing agricultural lands through fertilizer and irrigation and adopting new methods like precision farming.”

Our girls have been practicing the songs for their Christmas program for church. Their Sunday school teachers kindly gave us a disc with all four of the songs on it, which was promptly pushed into the CD player in my car (because that is the only CD player we own). I love their sweet little voices singing “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing,” but listening to the same four songs for the next three weeks is likely to make me lose my mind.