Fink Beef Genetics owns about 200 head of mother cows. Each of those, presumably, raises about one calf per year. Yet, somehow, in 2023, the Finks managed to sell more than 600 bulls carrying their herd’s genetics to customers across the country.

It was an early Thursday afternoon. I’d made the 26-mile run into Burley to a sale with a little load of leppy and oddball calves that, after a few weeks of TLC and too much money spent on grain, finally appeared respectable enough that I dared take such a ragged lot wearing my brand to town.

Early weaning must be well planned. Utilize your team to critique your nutrition, health and facilities prior to early weaning.

Understanding the impact of mineral and vitamin intake in relation to requirements and associated responses in health and performance is a very challenging aspect of beef cattle nutrition.

The usage of technology has also been utilized in the beef industry, such as with RFID tags, genomic testing and robotics. The newest technology to enter the ring is artificial intelligence (AI), which is continuing to develop for the use of facial recognition in cattle, which is being implemented, and which can contribute to a national disease animal traceability program with a developing app called CattleTracs.

Horses have been an integral part of livestock production since they were first imported with cattle by the Spanish in the early 1500s. While some modern ranches have transitioned to the use of “motorized horses” – all-terrain and utility-task vehicles (ATVs, UTVs) and dirt bikes – others continue the legacy of gathering, sorting, doctoring, branding and moving cattle by horseback.

We are in the market for a new horse – a new horse for a just-turned-8-year-old girl. An outsider, one somewhat unfamiliar with our world, might believe that this horse is her first horse, her beginner horse, you might say. If one believes that, one would be wrong.

The May World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates report (WASDE) showed the first forecast for the 2024-25 crop marketing year. The corn crop is projected at 14.9 billion bushels, down 3% from last year’s record as a decline in area is partially offset by an increase in yield.