Anyone in the Southern Plains eyeballing the recent blush of green in pastures due to some fall rains can be forgiven for wanting to re-stock sooner than later. But Daren Redfearn, Oklahoma State University Extension forage and management specialist, points out that while rainfall will dramatically improve winter pastures...More

Rain finally fell on the Southern Plains the past couple of weeks. In fact, there could even be some wheat pasture. But, the resurgent La Niña suggests recent moisture is merely a respite ahead of a winter and spring that should be a whole lot like last year....More

Congress finally passed pending free trade agreements (FTA) with Columbia, South Korea and Panama last week. Those agreements mean big money to the U.S. beef industry....More

"Management of input costs is a key business concern and can mean the difference between operational profit or loss; when it comes to hay waste, using the right type of bale feeder can make a significant cost-savings difference," says Dave Lalman, Oklahoma State University (OSU) Extension beef cattle specialist. Though he was speaking to cow-calf producers specifically, the implications apply to stocker producers, too....More

With the continued demand for feeder cattle, stockers should pencil out a little profit this fall and winter – even if your grass is still parched and wheat pasture is wishful thinking, say Extension livestock specialists...More

Congratulations to Pete Bonds of Bonds Ranch at Saginaw, TX, this year's BEEFNational Stocker Award winner. This is an excerpt of the story you can read in the October issue of BEEF....More

"Due to the drought-induced placements of feeder cattle, Southern Plains feedlots are increasingly full of cattle. The numbers of cattle placed at lighter weights in Southern Plains feedlots will result in generally longer feeding periods and lower slaughter weights when they go to market," say analysts with USDA's Economic Research Service (ERS) in this month's Livestock, Dairy and Poultry Outlook. "Although dressed weights are increasing seasonally, they are not increasing as fast as in other years because of the large placements of lightweight calves, and atypical patterns in placement weights and fed-cattle weights are occurring....More

World Agriculture Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) for August were another stunner. Corn production for 2011-12 is forecast 556 million bu. lower with a reduction in harvested area and lower expected yields. The national average yield is forecast at 153.0 bu./acre, down 5.7 bu. from July's projection. Unusually high temps and below-average precipitation during July across much of the Corn Belt sharply reduced yield prospects....More

"This is a once-in-a-generation drought," says Billy Cook, senior vice president and director of the Agricultural Division for the Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation at Ardmore, OK. "We haven't seen this type of heat and lack of precipitation since the record-setting drought of the mid-1950s or even the Dust Bowl."...More

USDA published its new proposed rule for mandatory livestock identification in the Federal Register earlier this month....More

"The driest year since the dinosaurs roamed the Lone Star State has completely thrown analysts for a loop, as they continue to unsuccessfully try to get a handle on the number of displaced drought cattle moving into the feedlot," explained folks with the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) Friday....More