Rossie Blinson Marketing and Membership Manager Animal Agriculture AllianceWashington, D.C.

The Southeast Brangus Breeders Association (SBBA) will host a field day at the Draggin' M Ranch in El Dorado, Ark., Aug. 22-23, 2014. All International Brangus Breeders Association (IBBA) members and cattle producers are encouraged to attend.

Innovative Livestock Services, Inc. (ILS) has announced today that a contract has been signed to purchase the assets and properties of Mid-America Feeders, LLC located northwest of Great Bend, Kansas.

In the face of what is shaping up to be a catastrophic fire season in the Southwest, the U.S. Forest Service is adding four additional aircraft to its next-generation firefighting fleet, bringing the total amount of aircraft to 21 large airtankers (with opportunities to add additional aircraft, if needed) and more than 100 helicopters.

There is no more critical factor impacting beef cow-calf profits than controlling feed costs, and one part of that is extending grazing days and improving performance on grass. The latest U.S. Census of Agriculture indicates that pasture acres were reduced by 660,000 acres (21 percent) in Iowa between 2007 and 2012. At the same time acres in CRP, WRP, CREP, and other conservation uses went down 744,000 (37 percent). There are huge soil and water conservation impacts of these land use changes, and good management of available pasture is more important than ever.

The effects of many years of cattle herd liquidation and the inevitable decreases in beef production have become glaringly obvious in 2014. Cattle slaughter is down 6.3 percent, leading to a 5.7 percent decrease in beef production so far this year.

Planning ahead and trying something new could give producers an advantage when faced with economic instability or Mother Nature woes.

If there is any good to come out of Cliven Bundy’s embarrassing standoff with the Bureau of Land Management in Nevada, it would be the broader awakening that the Endangered Species Act has become an anvil around the neck of today’s farmer and rancher.

Drought continues to parch most of the West and Southwest U.S. and appears to be spreading farther east and north into the Southern and Central Plains.

A common dilemma among agricultural families is how to be fair to both on-farm and off-farm children. Because the assets of a farm or ranch typically represent the vast majority of an agricultural family’s net worth, there are typically few assets to leave off-farm kids.