As we near the feedlot fall run and cow-calf producers market their calves at the highest prices received to date, every additional pound of gain has greater profit potential.

Although there are many skills and tasks required to successfully get beef cattle to market, special attention must be paid to the days just prior to slaughter.

It’s never too early to start planning for weaning. Several factors play a role in making weaning management decisions, such as drought, cow body condition, pasture conditions, weaning weight, calf sale contracts, labor and many others.

The benchmark reports are interesting and folks tend to value them in different ways, but they are a little more than just a means to compare yourself with your neighbors or fuel a competitive spirit.

With high feeder cattle prices, it may be tempting to look for cheaper sources of calves. Often, these cattle that are below the market come with unknown vaccination records, genetics and nutritional status. The market has already factored in the increased costs of high-morbidity, high-mortality, high-risk cattle.

To me, there is no job more enjoyable than working a pen of cattle with a team of stockmen that I call friends. There are many places across the country where processing day is as much a community event as it is a cattle management task that just needs to be completed.

Zoonotic diseases – also known as zoonoses – are caused by germs that spread between animals and people. No matter where people come into contact with animals, harmful germs are sometimes carried by animals.

Preconditioning calves includes giving dewormers and vaccinations, castrating bulls and teaching them to eat at the bunk. Although this management style costs money upfront, producers can make their investment back and then some.

Discussions of stress are not uncommon in cattle production. A great deal of this discussion is often focused on the stress typical for the weaned/transition calf and its common journey though the U.S. marketing system, which involves a lot of handling and transportation.

For those who see the opportunity to expand, if they use their data and invest where they get the biggest return, they stand the highest chance of success. Will the beef cow herd continue to shrink, or will we see some expansion? Only time will tell.