The five-year expansion of the beef market will continue in 2019 at a slower and more measured pace, explained Kevin Good of CattleFax. And while it may cause some alarm among the beef industry, it’s a measured and typical slowdown based on the business cycle.

Problem: Mass fly population. Production losses in cattle occur, caused by the bacterial agent, Moraxella bovis. Symptoms: Lacrimation, excessive blinking, conjunctivitis, weight loss and loss of sight. Challenge: Difficult to isolate, treat and control. Solution: Curicyn’s Pink Eye Kit.

Robert Earl Keen and Lyle Lovett wrote in their hit song, “The Front Porch Song,” “I’ve known a whole lot of old bulls in my life, and their work is never done.” It’s an appropriate sentiment, especially when going to the sale barn to buy a new sire. Understanding the importance of bull sale protocols, assessing your needs as a producer and keeping your financial goals in mind can make or break your day-to-day operation.

Turning on the light over the back door at 5 that morning revealed a layer of ice on everything, including the cattle trucks that had arrived in the compound overnight. Too bad a few hundred pounds of ice on the trucks wouldn’t work in my favor at the destination feedlot.

For most spring-calving beef producers, your herd is either calving now or will start to calve soon. Hopefully this article catches you before calving starts so you actually have time to read it – I know how busy this time of year can be. But as your calves start to come, I want you to have a metric in the back of your mind: calving distribution.