Domestic red meat demand and corn prices are two current drivers of the fed cattle market.

In the latest livestock trade data, August beef exports were up 21.3% year over year, with year-to-date total beef exports also up 21% from 2020. Beef exports in the month of August were an all-time record for any month.

An online tool is now available to help ranchers document and estimate payments to cover feed transportation costs caused by drought, which are now covered by the Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honeybees and Farm-raised Fish Program (ELAP).

Cattle are typically marketed and transported several times in their lives. Marketing and transportation can be the most fatiguing and stressful events in a feeder calf’s life.

Apparently, surviving the Great Recession and a global pandemic isn’t enough. Our brothers and sisters out West are in a prolonged fight for their livelihoods and very lives.

Pregchecking is an important tool to manage your herd efficiently. There are multiple ways to determine the pregnancy status of an animal: wait and see, palpate, draw blood and ultrasound.

The USDA announced Oct. 4 an additional $100 million in funding from the American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act to help private lending for the expansion of meat and processing capacity, in addition to other food supply chain infrastructure.

Becoming a good ultrasounder is all about reading the details amidst the shades of grey. Training your eye to know what “normal” is, will be quite helpful. If you learn what a standard or normal image looks like, you will be able to determine a variation.

I’m always on the lookout for inspiration for this blog. I listen and watch with ears and eyes wide open for funny things my fellow ranchers say, conundrums with our cattle and sometimes inspiring asides.