The use of beef semen in dairy cows over the past three years has simply been amazing. A recent National Association of Animal Breeders (NAAB) report on semen usage indicated that nearly 7 million units of beef semen were used with dairy cows in 2020.

Some trends in the cattle industry we can predict, but others surprise us – like the magnitude of the upswing in cattle prices over the past few years. But when grain prices slumped in 2014 and cattle prices headed still higher, it shouldn’t have surprised anyone that we started adding days on feed (DOF) to feedlot cattle.

Are we producing the highest-quality cattle ever in the history of this great industry? Well, “ever” is right up there with words like never or best, often subject to debate …