The long-term trend in the feedlot industry is that cattle are on feed more and more days every year. Feedlot data shows that the 12-month moving average of days on feed has increased approximately 30% just in the last two decades.

In an ever-evolving industry, cattle farming and beef production thrive on innovation, with the pursuit of efficiency, precision and safety as a constant endeavor.

Many years ago, in a college course on toxic plants, I learned about the popular ornamental houseplant dieffenbachia, also known as “dumb cane.”

Few times in history has the cattle industry offered more opportunity for profit to conscientious producers than right now. That was the primary message of CattleFax CEO Randy Blach’s executive summary at CattleFax’s Industry Outlook Seminar on Feb. 2. 

When I first came across the Corporate Transparency Act of 2021, I thought, “Oh, this is probably a Wall Street thing.” But turns out, it's actually an “almost everyone except Wall Street thing.”

How often has the calving book been lost or accidentally destroyed by the calf being warmed in the feeding pickup? Or when has information failed to be recorded toward the end of the calving season because our attention turns to other matters that time of year?

The census showed about a 6% drop in the total number of cattle and calves from 2017 to 2022, to just under 88 million head. However, the total number of cattle sold increased from about $77.2 billion in 2017 to some $89.4 billion in 2022, a jump of almost 16%.

Another year, another season of taxes. It’s the same time every year, but for many of us, the time seems to sneak up as the days go by quickly.

Cows that arrive on the farm with a high price tag have a tendency to be crowned as queens before they prove themselves in the system. Hopefully, they are worth that special treatment and they pay for themselves quickly, but it takes time to find out.