Mortalities are an unfortunate reality for both confined and pastured livestock operations.

In the broadest sense, stocker cattle are animals to which producers can add value. Most often, the term “stocker cattle” refers to 300- to 900-pound calves grazed on pastures after being weaned.

Keep the bull or make it a steer? The question is one a rancher asks each time a bull calf drops.

Selecting fence wire was a simple task when I was a boy during World War II. Daddy went into the ranch supply store, asked for barbed wire or net wire, and took whatever the merchant had in inventory.

The practice of low-stress handling is an economic decision as well as an animal welfare issue. It also is a practice that aids in getting a job done efficiently using fewer people, less time and preventing damage to facilities, which adds to costs.

When I was a kid, one of my favorite treats was a chunk of sugar and sour something-or-other with a Sweet-Tart label, if I remember right. It was the exact size and shape of a big old sulfa bolus.

I’ve learned a few things from cows and cowboys over the years, such as good veterinarians are hardly ever on time.

Once upon a time, there was a beautiful little valley called Pleasant Valley. Pristine streams ran down from wooded hillsides. Wild game was abundant. Fish flourished. The peasants tilled their farms and irrigated them with mountain water. The livestock grazed the grassy meadows.

NCBA has instituted a working group with the CME Group to address volatility in the cattle markets. “Recently, the cattle markets have been susceptible to volatile limit price moves without corresponding market news,” said Colin Woodall, NCBA senior vice president of government affairs.