In hay season, equipment downtime isn’t just inconvenient – it’s the fastest way to lose forage quality and profit.

A Wyoming family uses clarity, communication and business discipline to build a ranch the next generation wants to come back to.

Through mid-October 2025, excitement built across the live sectors of the beef industry, with high-price records sometimes being reset daily for many classes of cattle. Though drought conditions persisted through the Great Plains and much of the West, the fundamentals supported rising prices.

The story of agricultural markets today is very similar to A Tale of Two Cities or, if you are willing to forgive the campiness, "a tale of two farm economies."

“The ag community is all suffering. We all know this,” says Brandon Vining, president of ProGro Agronomy in St. Anthony. Agronomic outcomes differed by region, but low commodity prices and high input costs have most producers (outside of the beef industry) tightening their belts and hoping for better times.

At the 2025 Range Beef Cow Symposium, held in Cheyenne, Wyoming, Jay Parsons with the University of Nebraska – Lincoln (UNL) facilitated a panel discussion focused on rebuilding the cow herd.

During challenging economic times, farmers are often confronted with challenges that include reduced commodity prices, rising input costs and cash flow crunches. When these challenges arise, it’s critical to rely on strategy rather than luck.