The King Ranch Institute for Ranch Management (KRIRM) hosted a successful symposium on practical stockmanship in ranching that attracted more than 300 ranchers, landowners and agriculturalists from 21 states, Mexico, Canada and Ireland to Kingsville, Texas, Oct. 20-21, 2016.

We are a little better than halfway through getting this fall's calf crop marketed and the seasonal weakness in prices has been an eye-opener.

Weaned calves in the preconditioning or backgrounding pen should have come in with a plan. For those happy with weanling prices, calves in the pen may be limited to replacement heifer prospects. Others may see this as a year to retain ownership through finishing, or you’re just waiting to sell calves in a new year. No matter why you’re feeding those calves now, you face significant challenges from respiratory disease (BRD). Even fall-born, nursing calves are at risk with the fluctuating temperatures and frequent changes in weather.

Some recent research conducted at the University of Nebraska – Lincoln shows that when managed correctly, larger heifers can be more profitable than smaller heifers.

Folks, meet Lady. Lady is a Black Angus cow from Oklahoma. A group of USDA NRCS workers fitted Lady with a GoPro camera on a collar to follow her eating routine throughout the day.

Courtney CowdenBeef Quality Assurance State CoordinatorPennsylvania Beef Quality AssuranceSelinsgrove, Pennsylvania

It all began six years ago, with two “one in a million” carcasses, one late-night call and a whole lot of questions.

My husband surprised me. This August, we stopped to visit with friends. Their dog had a litter of pups about eight weeks earlier. The kids and I had been "working" on my hubby to say yes to a puppy, but he refused. His heart still ached for the last one.

The beef industry is segmented with most cow-calf producers marketing their calves at weaning or started feeders to either stocker grazers or finishing feedlots. Selling calves directly off the cow or after a short weaning preconditioning period has been very favorable the last several years as numbers were down, demand strong and calf prices at record levels.

There is a formidable argument to be made on behalf of the agricultural community as a whole in regards to their willingness to seek out and implement technology.