Manipulating the reproductive process of your cow herd can result in shorter breeding and calving seasons with more calves born earlier in the season resulting in an older, heavier, more uniform calf crop when you wean.
Cherry County Neb. remains the U.S. County with the most beef cows, according to the 2022 Census of Agriculture. South Dakota has seven counties ranked in the Top 33 while Texas has five.
NCBA and the PLC oppose three finalized Endangered Species Act rulemakings that significantly expand federal overreach and roll back reforms that previously provided some relief to farmers and ranchers.
Keeping replacement females from first calf heifers can work if producers plan and select sires that are adequate for calving ease and also offer maternal traits that are beneficial.
A new resource developed by the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and CattleFax helps cattle producers maximize profitability from their culling decisions.
Weeks after the smoke has cleared from the wildfires in the Texas Panhandle, the Texas A&M Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory is alerting livestock owners to watch their surviving livestock for respiratory issues.
Improving the efficiency, sustainability and profit potential of commercial cow calf production involves reducing feed costs while improving pounds of calf weaned.
Most if not all injuries caused by livestock can be prevented. Livestock producers can reduce the risk of injury by studying animal behavior, by using proper handling techniques, and by using equipment correctly.
In a near decade-long effort to create giant sheep hybrids in the U.S. with the goal of selling the trophy species to captive hunting ranches, the defendant violated federal wildlife trafficking regulations.
Animal nutritionist studies precision livestock management technology to develop cost-effective and noninvasive methods of monitoring feeding behaviors that can make operations more efficient.
A cowherd of optimum mature size and milk level relative to a given production environment creates the potential to increase revenue in the form of increased reproductive efficiency.
Growing, lactating cows have greater nutrient requirements and smaller rumens than mature cows making it difficult for them to meet their nutrient needs with the same diet as the cow.
Texas A&M AgriLife Extension photographer Sam Craft was in the Texas Panhandle documenting the aftermath of the largest wildfire in Texas history, and the aid and support for fire victims.
Bulls passing all four parts of a BSE are set up for reproductive excellence. The best achieve a 60% to 65% conception rate every 21 days on healthy, cycling cows, says Dr. Chance Armstrong. Subfertile bulls are costly.
Selecting heifers that will have the optimum mature size and milk level to fit our production system, breed quickly, wean a calf annually and have longevity is important for the success of your ranch.
Devastating wildfires are burning in the Texas and Oklahoma Panhandle region and the Smokehouse Creek Fire has already become the second largest in Texas history, consuming at least three-quarters of a million acres.
Cattle grazing small grains pastures this time of year are susceptible to bloat which is influenced by environment, weather, forage growth stage and forage quality.
Statistically, impulse heifer breeding is about 80 percent more variable than planned heifer breeding. Therefore, impulse heifer breeding plays an important role in the dynamics of cattle cycles.
Melting snow has created special challenges for beef cattle producers and monitoring the body condition of gestating cows during times of cold stress becomes critical for calving and rebreeding.
The January 1, 2024, beef cow herd inventory was 28.22 million head, down 2.5 percent year over year and a decrease of 3.47 million head or 10.9 percent lower, from the cyclical peak in 2019.
The increased cow mature weight equates to an increase in stocking rate if cow numbers are not adjusted. As stocking rate increases we know that weaning weights and rebreeding rates decrease.
While estimates suggest that black vultures are responsible for the loss of thousands of calves every year, as a protected species, the bird may not be killed without a permit.
Missouri's drought in 2022 and 2023 may have been underrated, says Eric Bailey, University of Missouri Extension. He offers tips for stretching your feed during the next few months.
For each 1-degree Fahrenheit the average daily temperature is below 30 degrees a cow in moderate BCS will need an additional one percent in daily energy requirement.
The single most important factor in keeping a cow at zero non-productive days is body condition, which has a direct impact on calving interval, conception rate and percentage of open cows.
Understanding the risk factors for hypothermia will aid in developing a strategy to prevent loss. Managing dystocia and knowing when and how to assist chilled calves is an essential part of your calving plan.
U.S. hay production in 2023 was 6.3% higher than the drought year of 2022, but remains 7.8% lower than the 10-year average. Hay stocks were higher in eight of the ten states, with decreases only in Kansas and Kentucky.
Obtaining a basic understanding of nutrition and making data driven decisions can give every cattleman an advantage in creating a nutrition program best suited to their operation.
CattleFax invites producers to participate in its annual Cow-Calf Survey, which provides participants and the rest of the industry with valuable data regarding industry benchmarks and trends.
Removal of the 84 turbines erected beginning 10 years ago without a mining permit from the Osage Nation ends a long legal battle and will cost the developers $300 million.
Producers interested in expanding their herd or considering alternative production practices due to limited perennial pastures and rangeland are the target audience for the Dakota Alternative Beef Cow Systems Symposium.
Cow-calf costs and returns data from the Kansas Farm Management Association Enterprise Analysis for individual producers finds annual returns over variable costs averaged $71.02 per cow over a 46-year period.
In beef calf preconditioning programs, the importance of vaccinations to minimize respiratory illness, related to bovine respiratory disease (BRD), cannot be overstated.
The “maternal” discussion is far more complex than a healthy live birth and seedstock producers are using more data and knowledge to create better dams each year.
Determining the value of a bull is an important question, and one that is a challenge to answer. Mark Johnson, Oklahoma State University, offers some calculations to help determine a value.
With limited options to address the disease, pharmaceutical stewardship must be considered when using antimicrobials in the treatment and control of anaplasmosis to maintain long term effectiveness of these products.
Activists will intensify their calls to end grazing and beef production over the next several years as climate change and carbon emissions become the priority as opposed to just protecting the environment.
Ducks Unlimited and ABS Global further the program’s capabilities to support ranchers in enacting climate-smart change with technical assistance and genetic innovation.
Road ditch hay can provide needed forage. With a few precautions and a forage analysis, it can help you meet your cow’s nutrient requirements this winter.