Producers are showing a greater interest in cover crops as a forage source for grazing livestock. Cover crops can be intensively managed as a great forage source – but with some caution and considerations.

While bovines as a species are a pretty resilient animal, there are times where consuming too much of the wrong things can be detrimental to their performance – and maybe their life.

Spring is an exciting time for agricultural producers as it represents one of the high points of optimism for the year. New beginnings, new births, new growth and renewed hope for the production year. As spring arrives, the yearly plans are brought into implementation.

There’s a fad occurring in the Western world I’d like to encourage. Ranch people are naming their kids with rodeo-inspired words. I’m not talking about names like Freckles, Ote, Tibbs, Ty, Tuff, Trevor, Tomkins, Luke, Lane, Beaver, Monty, Mahan, Shoulders, Charmayne, Ace, Jake or Walt.

The changing seasons and my constant struggle with those changes provides me with plenty of writing fodder. It seems that no matter what Ma Nature throws at me or lays at my feet, I can find a reason to whine about it. There are those around me who might use a different term to describe my incessant “complaining,” but I try to keep my musings as family-friendly as possible.

To supplement farm income, some get their wives jobs in town. Others expand their hobbies (i.e., making saddles, braiding horsehair or running for county commissioner). Some, in desperation, get a real estate license.

More than 72,000 wild horses roam through the Western states on land that experts say can no longer sustain their basic needs.

Husband and wife Tracy and Julie Leonard each brought specific skill sets to their cow-calf and stocker program.

What are you producing at your operation? The answer is: beef, of course. Anyone who owns cattle is a food producer. This has been the most critical point for all generations of producers.

Warmer weather has many of us thinking about green grass and the anticipation of a lighter workload while cow-calf pairs graze throughout the summer months. However, there are some important herd management practices to consider before that point.