Calving season is rapidly approaching, so it is time to assess cow body condition and nutrient status and make adjustments if necessary before the onset of lactation.

The majority of the income a cow-calf producer receives comes from selling a calf crop. Therefore, setting up the newborn calf for success becomes critically important to the profitability of the operation.

The young lactating heifer has and will continue to be a rancher’s biggest nutritional challenge in the beef herd. If the young cow’s mature bodyweight is between 1,200 and 1,300 pounds, she likely only weighs a little over 1,000 pounds the first month after calving.

This spring Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska have all experienced devastating wildfires. Unfortunately, wildfires in the Midwest will always be a threat. When these disasters hit, what options do producers have for maintaining cows when forage resources suddenly become tight?

Several factors have led producers in today’s beef industry to adopt partial confinement as a management strategy in the cow herd.

Livestock represent only 3.6 percent of greenhouse gas emissions, and specifically, cattle represent only 20 percent of the methane production in the U.S. Methane production by cattle results in a loss of 2 to 12 percent of the gross energy consumed by the animal.

Annual forages can be a great way to provide deferred grazing on permanent perennial pastures that may be in need of recovery time. Depending on commodity and livestock prices, annual forages may result in more economic return than grain crops, particularly on marginal crop ground.