Much of 2020 has been preoccupied with daily and weekly slaughter numbers, carcass weights and boxed beef prices, along with monthly cattle-on-feed dynamics. The intertemporal volatility through the year adds to the challenge of assessing what, exactly, is the situation regarding the cattle cycle and longer-term herd dynamics.

The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) is announcing the release of a comprehensive industry feedyard audit tool. The Cattle Industry Feedyard Audit will serve as a standardized audit tool based on the sound science and common sense established in the Beef Quality Assurance (BQA) program.

I was asked a little while back, “Can cows catch COVID?” It sounds like an alliterative riddle, but the answer is “yes.” While cows can catch COVID, according to South Dakota State University, they only possess a “medium” chance of doing so (and while we are at it, horses only have a low chance of catching the virus).

Most ranchers would admit they have a love-hate relationship with calving season, and each year seems to come with its own set of challenges.

Despite the challenges facing the industry at the beginning of the third quarter, the beef industry has processed more fed cattle in third-quarter 2020 than the previous year.

A general rule of thumb is: It takes 2 to 3 tons of hay to winter a beef cow. If $125 per ton and feeding for 150 days, it’s going to cost $1.70 to $2.50 per cow per day in feed expenses alone – without labor costs and machinery expenses.

Unfortunately, drought and abnormally dry conditions continue to expand in a large portion of the south-central region as of this writing. Additionally, current projections through the end of February call for drought to continue in current areas and for drought to develop in almost all of the south-central region.