You can still find wild extremes if you look, but the industry is focusing in and making dramatic progress on selecting for the economically relevant traits of beef production for the most part. In fact, seedstock producers are even surprised by the amount of progress. The high-selling bulls of five years ago would now be in the bottom 20% of most of this year’s sale offerings....More

High-school basketball season is in full swing, and that means plenty of bleacher time as my family watches my sister Kaley play ball. Our family is pretty big into sports; we love going to games and cheering on the Mitchell High School Kernels. We are lucky to have Dakota Wesleyan University (DWU) in town, as well, and after chores are done, you might find us watching a college game or two that DWU hosts at the local Mitchell Corn Palace....More

Management of reproduction really includes the manipulation of genetics, nutrition, fertility and estrus, and marketing. If you change any one of these, you may change one or all the others. Burke Teichert, former vice president and general manager of Deseret, provides the management ideas he’s found helpful in building whole-herd reproduction and profitability....More

A few years ago, I judged a speech contest at a junior national show. After each presentation, the judges were allowed to ask questions. For each individual, I asked, “What is the biggest issue facing the beef industry today?” I received several outstanding responses with answers ranging from escalating land prices and input costs, the aging rancher, the death tax and animal rights activists. However, I was disappointed when several of the junior showmen cited growing hair on their show steers as one of the biggest challenges they faced as cattlemen....More

It’s hard to believe it’s the last day of May. At our ranch, we’ve been incredibly busy, and the days are just flying by! It seems we just got done calving and planting, only to start artificially inseminating cows and cutting hay. With summer grazing and haying season getting started, I bet many of you, like my family, are spending long days outside -- eating meals out of a cooler in the tractor, hauling pairs to pasture, running to town for parts, fixing fence, spraying for weeds, mixing creep feed, and the list goes on and on....More

By following six steps, farm operators and small business owners can develop a plan to chart the course for future growth and sustainability, according to Michael Langemeier, professor in Kansas State University’s Department of Agricultural Economics. In a three-part series, Langemeier shows ranchers how to successfully make plans to transition the operation, including six steps that can be beneficial for farm operations:...More