Happy New Year! Here’s to a great 2021 for you, your family and your operation. How do we prepare for both success and failure in this new year?

I hope this article finds you and your family doing well. This time last year, none of us could have foreseen 2020 unfolding the way it has. We have all been negatively impacted by COVID-19 in at least one significant way.

Regardless of how prepared we are, the first calf of the season often seems to come as a surprise. The following is a list of considerations to help make sure you, your cows and the barn are ready to go.

No matter if you’ve been in the business one year or 20 years, you always seem to find improvements you can make to your working facilities. Well-constructed facilities should reduce stressful situations for both cattle and handlers.

As the year comes to an end, it is a good time to look back and evaluate how the operation did and what things can be improved on moving forward to increase profit potential and reduce risk.

What better time to talk about technology than during this pandemic? We have all been stretched to our limits with the use of technology over these months of virtual content. Schools, churches, livestock producer meetings, national conventions and numerous other programs and events have been impacted.

Marketing of retired breeding stock accounts for roughly 20% of an operation’s annual income. In times of herd consolidations, making the decision of which females to sell might be tough. While it’s easy to part with open cows, late-bred females may be more challenging.

Body condition scoring (BCS) your cows may seem like a fruitless effort. You take the time to record all the data and maybe even sort the thin ones and fat ones out and feed them separately, but does it really pay for that extra work? Well, the answer to that question is: Yes.