It’s been said, “Doing business without advertising is like winking at a girl in the dark. You know what you’re doing, but nobody else does.”

It’s safe to say most ranchers didn’t get into the cattle business because they are passionate about crunching numbers. Rather, one would wager it had more to do with raising livestock and being stewards of the land.

It’s been said, “People need to be reminded more often than they need to be instructed.” That could explain why drought was again a hot topic at the Range Beef Cow Symposium in Cheyenne, Wyoming, in late November.

Thanksgiving: It’s the only day deemed appropriate for bringing out larger plates, loosening your belt and gorging yourself like a 900-pound steer that recently discovered corn.

At nearly 100ºF, it was a relief to be greeted with air conditioning as I walked through the automatic doors. Grabbing a shopping cart and strolling through the aisles, I noticed something peculiar given the grueling heat in my Idaho home: garlands, mistletoe, snow globes and Santa knickknacks.

A 4-H project that got out of hand. That’s what Tommy Mead of Mead Cattle Enterprises says about his passion for the Hereford breed.