We are now two years into herd expansion and that leads to questions of how much more herd expansion is ahead and, to a lesser degree, questions about how fast remaining herd expansion will occur.

January exports of U.S. beef were modestly higher than a year ago, but export value slipped, according to data released by the USDA and compiled by the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF).

Calving is in full swing in many parts of the country. Here in north-central Montana, we are a bit behind the rest of the country – many of our cows don’t start calving until after mid-February.

Watch Baxter Black's first music video, "Is That Rural Enough For You?"

You have to eat it. That’s really the only way to know if a steak is going to be good or not.

Prairie dogs can munch their way through pastures, taking away half of the available forage from cattle.

As groupies form around one idolized stockman or another, I hear some say that anyone who invokes the concept of predator-prey relationships instead of stockman-stock relationship just doesn’t “get it.”

It is a pattern as predictable as it is hollow. In every U.S. presidential election year, the guys in polished suits scrambling to get like-minded voters to the polls throw out a tired old claim that this is the most crucial election our country has ever faced. 

The annual USDA Cattle report contains new numbers on cattle inventories and significant revisions to the 2015 numbers. It’s important to consider the revisions when interpreting the new numbers. In general, the report confirms, as expected, that cattle inventories in the U.S. grew in 2015.

Snow, floods and other major weather events in December 2015 and early January 2016 have impacted much of the Southern Plains. The recent precipitation aided wheat pasture conditions and pond levels.