Several years ago, we moved our beginning calving date from the first of February to the first of March. There are merits and drawbacks to either program.

I love feeding animals. No, I’m not talking about absentee feeding, where you pay way too much for a load of hard-doing 8-weight chronic steers, send them to a feedyard, get feed bills and death slips every month and sell them on the rail for less than you paid for them to begin with.

WANTED: Cowboy. No TV, No phone. If you don’t like dogs and can’t tough it in the mountains, don’t apply.—Alamo, Nevada

In the March issue, Hugh Aljoe discussed the importance of using a strategic grazing plan to accomplish forage and livestock production goals.

Conventional corral work is often a very stressful time for both animals and humans, and it’s unfortunately a great place to hurt performance.

Cattle on feed, beef production and beef cow slaughter were all higher in April. Cash prices provided a Memorial Day-demand bump, helping early May margins a little.

Most Progressive Cattleman readers rarely use cattle prods.

March U.S. beef exports rose, but USDA’s latest outlook report indicates improved forage conditions combined with growing cattle supplies and heavier carcass weights will boost U.S. beef production and pressure prices lower into 2017. This and other beef and cattle market news is available here.

Looking to reverse consolidation in the livestock industry, Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, reintroduced legislation last week to ban packer ownership of livestock they process.

True leaders aren’t born – they’re grown. That’s the message the National 4-H Council is sending with its Grow True Leaders campaign, launched in April.