Whether in good times or in bad, be it with high prices or low – today’s rancher knows that a profit depends not on what comes out of the cattle, but mostly what goes in.

Outgoing Cattlemen's Beef Board Chairman Weldon Wynn shares thoughts with Progressive Cattleman on the state of the industry from the 2014 NCBA Trade Show.

Boning cow prices in Oklahoma City were reported at just over $102 per hundredweight (cwt) in the first week of March. This level suggests that March slaughter cow prices will exhibit a more than seasonal price increase. Cull cow prices typically advance from November lows to a May peak that averages nearly 19 percent higher than November price levels.

New rules for traceability, trich and fever ticks
; the Texas Animal Health Commission has released some amended regulations:

The USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) Administrator, Juan M. Garcia, on Thursday repeated his appeal to livestock producers affected by natural disasters such as the drought in the West and the unexpected winter storm in the upper Midwest to keep thorough records. This includes livestock and feed losses, and any additional expenses that are a result of losses to purchased forage or feed stuff.

During nearly 20 years teaching large-animal veterinary medicine at Colorado State University, Dr. Robert Callan has reassessed his role: He no longer sees himself as a traditional stand-and-deliver professor, but as a coach who helps students enrich their knowledge and skills.

Unlike cows that haven't ever had a run-in with wolves, ones that have can experience stress-related illnesses and have a harder time getting pregnant – meaning decreased profits for ranchers, according to a new study by Oregon State University.

Alltech is launching a new support tool for nutritionists that not only evaluates and troubleshoots dairy rations to maximize feed efficiency and combat ever-rising feed costs, the company says, but also estimates the amount of energy lost as methane and methane emissions per animal.

Upon further requests from the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA), the USDA has extended the public comment period for proposed rules allowing the importation of beef from 14 states in Brazil.

As Congress continues to dance around the issue of immigration reform, Progressive Cattleman online readers mostly say the issue isn’t so hot for beef ranchers and producers.