“Happy New Year!" The beginning of the year, for many, brings about a time of year where we usually create new resolutions for ourselves.

Being prepared and having a calving kit can make dealing with dystocia, a calf not wanting to nurse, a cow not producing colostrum or some other situation much easier.

With the new year on the horizon, and calving season to follow, I would encourage you to look at your record-keeping system.

Proper heifer development is important to get heifers bred but also to set them up to be productive cows that remain in the herd for many years to come.

Body condition score (BCS), an indicator of relative fatness, which is representative of energy stores, can be visually assessed at any point in time to evaluate the nutritional status of cattle.

We know that not every dystocia can be prevented, but there are some management factors that can help reduce difficult births.

Now is a great time to evaluate your pastures and develop strategies to improve grazing days for next year. Feed may be less expensive this year, but it won’t stay that way.

Fire season has walloped much of the Mountain West, with an estimated 1,980,108 acres across the U.S. burned as of the end of September.

I recently heard an interesting analogy: Not testing your hay can put your cows on a nutritional roller coaster. While some may enjoy the thrill of a roller coaster and the anticipation of the next flip or turn, for cattle nutrition and the rumen environment, slow and steady is the way to go.