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.

I have talked with two different local producers whose primary winter pasture is gone now. They are looking for feed alternatives or to destock their herd while prices are high. If you find yourself in this situation, you must perform an inventory of feeds on your operation and calculate how much will be needed.

For those buying or selling hay, forage testing can play an even bigger role in pricing and purchasing value.