I hope the grass and calves are growing strong at your operation this spring. Marketing is top priority for most producers right now, it seems. Guarding against market lows with value-added management can improve the bottom line. Pre-conditioned calf crops are in high demand.

My kids are fighting the crud right now – with the sickness here, you'd think we walk around licking doorknobs, light switches and the bottom of our boots. (We don't.) I've made soups, cleaned, disinfected and opened windows. I think it helps.

Selection used to be entirely phenotypic. Everybody was an expert in structural evaluation and based decisions off what was seen by the naked eye. Then came the performance movement of the 1960s and ’70s, and the industry shifted to modern evaluation systems and selection tools such as expected progeny differences (EPDs) as a large part of their selection.

On April 4, the USDA – acting in response to a directive from President Donald J. Trump – authorized emergency grazing on Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) lands located in Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas – the three states that were most heavily impacted by ongoing wildfires that began on March 6.

Depending on which side of the gate you’re on, it was heartening or worrisome to see cattle and beef prices recover coming into spring. Cattle markets are widely reported in farm and ranch media, but beef and competing protein prices underlie it all.

According to a recent online poll, most Progressive Cattleman readers use a manual squeeze chute.

Water quality can affect land and cattle productivity. Let’s face it, cattle are naturals at drinking as long as there is a water source and access. What else is there to think about? The importance of water deserves the time and attention of cattle producers. Cattle simply cannot be healthy and gain well without good quality water. What’s more, ensuring pastures have a high-quality, sustainable and uncontaminated water source is a key component to environmental stewardship.

Ranchers running beef cattle on dry and dusty landscapes should consider smaller cows to get the best out of their herd.

Today, the day that I am writing this, is the first day of spring. It has been a long time coming, but the unpredictable weather patterns prove it is here. It is quite appropriate that I spend a part of my day treating a scouring calf. It just comes with the territory, but this year it seems so much worse.

The 2016 elections are now a distant memory and the transition into a new presidential administration is nearly complete. Now that the dust has settled a bit and most of the cabinet picks have been confirmed, talk about the 2018 Farm Bill has begun to heat up.