Groups contesting the 2015 “Waters of the U.S.” rule (WOTUS) now know where to take their cases. The U.S. Supreme Court made a unanimous decision on Jan. 22 to give federal district courts jurisdiction over decisions regarding WOTUS.

“Bing, bang, bongo,” says Utah veterinarian Mike Walburger, about his switch to using the  InPouchⓇ TF to test bulls for Trichomonas. Trichomoniasis (“Trich”) is a venereal disease caused by Trichomonas foetus, a protozoa that can wreak havoc on a rancher’s calving rates by causing abortions, early embryonic deaths, and temporary infertility within the herd.  

Christmas shoppers are familiar with Black Friday, the day when spending is strong enough to put many stores’ annual budgets finally into the black. A similar principle has applied to cattle markets, except the calendar is flipped. Strong cattle sales in the spring must be strong enough to balance the trend of dropping prices in the fall. And in recent years, that drop has slid into a problematic trend.

The Jan. 1, 2018, inventory of cattle in feedlots was 11.49 million head, 108.3 percent of year-earlier levels. This is an increase of 884,000 head compared with Jan. 1, 2017, and is the largest January on-feed total since 2012. For the 12 months of 2017, feedlot placements totaled 23.5 million head, up 1.91 million head (an 8.8 percent increase) from 2016. Total 2017 marketings increased 1.03 million head year over year, up 4.9 percent.

Affiliates of Pinnacle Asset Management L.P., a commodities and natural resources investment firm, announced Jan. 17 they have entered into an agreement to acquire the U.S.-based cattle feeding assets and farms, collectively known as Five Rivers Cattle Feeding, from JBS USA, a global food company, for approximately $200 million.

Clay’s passion was always cattle. He wanted to get back to the home place in Starr, South Carolina, and start a cattle operation in the worst way and with the quickest route possible.

Last week one of our cows died unexpectedly. Fortunately, we experience minimal loss, but when it does occur, we are sad. I’ve heard negative commentaries suggesting ranchers don’t care about the lives of their cattle, but those of you in the fields with us know that nothing could be further from the truth.

If ever there was a busy time in a producer’s life, it is right around the time decisions are made for which animals head to the sale barn. At the end of long days, it is easy to skip over any further management for those cattle earmarked for sale and focus on the retained or growing herd that stays. A few simple considerations and actions, however, can be the difference in dollars per head once those cattle go through the sale ring.

Representing the future of the cow herd, replacement heifers must be managed with the end in mind – that is to maintain an efficient, productive cow-calf operation.

“How to Not Go Broke Ranching” was the title of a presentation by Walt Davis at the 2017 Texas Grazing Conference. Davis has spent approximately 50 years as a working rancher with interests in west Texas and in southeast Oklahoma.