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Weaning weights haven't see much movement in the past 15 years.

Drought and dryness is continuing to expand across the Great Plains and southwestern states.

Cow-calf herd owners can send more pounds of beef to market by feeding calves after weaning. It’s called backgrounding to prepare calves for the feedlot.

The opportunity to use cheaper forage gains to build those high opportunity cost feeder cattle is a viable option.

The current growth benchmark for actual weaning weight is 554 pounds at 192 days of age, with an average daily gain of 2.5 pounds.

Preconditioning is a generic term that means different things to different people and encompasses the different operating procedures that may be applied to a calf prior to shipping.

If you are looking to background calves or grow replacement heifers this winter grazing corn residue and providing supplemental distillers may be a system to consider.

Despite a seasonal decline, as of mid-October this year, calf and stocker prices are down only about two percent, indicating strong stocker demand despite larger calf supplies.

Weaning is a major stress in a calf’s life and on their immune system.

Wheat pasture has developed relatively slowly in Oklahoma so far this fall, but September prices for stocker steers and heifers average 14% to 18% higher than last year.

Ensuring your calves are healthy, by reducing stress, will improve their performance in the feedlot and improve your relationship with your buyers.

Although there is little that an individual producer can do to change market prices, feeding cheaper feeds to add value to calves may be an opportunity to improve the overall bottom line this year.

Small steps on the farm can yield big differences at sale time.

A variety of production and marketing practices are available to help cow-calf producers enhance calf values. Though these practices are not new, many are still adopted by only a small percentage of producers. The foll

Value of gain increases during preconditioning. Boost calf health and get them bunk-broke. Preconditioning calves prior to marketing can not only help deliver that flexibility you might be looking for, but also added pr

Programs reward ranchers for calf health.

It's all about increasing calf performance and capturing a premium.

Price premiums are growing for preconditioned calves in every region.

As expected, President Barack Obama vetoed a measure that would have killed the EPA's Waters of the U.S. (WOTUS) rule.

Most Americans consider Canadians to be discreet, genteel and oh-so polite. But we share one cultural connection: thieves love beef, no matter what their citizenship.

Public access to nearly 2,500 acres of the Cimarron National Grassland has been halted after seven cattle were found dead last year.

The National Institute for Animal Agriculture plans to host a one-day forum for beef producers and veterinary practitioners on handling bovine viral diarrhea (BVD). The forum will take place on April 7 in Kansas City.

The cost of producing one unit of output is extremely important information in any business. It determines your break-even price which, in turn, helps determine pricing decisions and profit margins. It also provides a b

A new report from U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) outlines differences in the USDA's responses to outbreaks of porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED) and porcine deltacoronavirus (PDCoV), known collectively a

Corn closed higher Friday, finding support above its 20 day moving average for the first time in 30 plus days. Soybean futures retreated back below their 100 day moving average dropping 0.5% on Friday's close.

The crop markets moved mostly lower in concert with equity indexes Thursday night.

Animal disease epidemics are a significant concern to the animal agriculture industry. The National Institute for Animal Agriculture will facilitate a discussion on this crucial topic, at their next Annual Conference, A

Winter feeding is one of the largest expenses for ranchers, and hay production and feeding is one of the major labor requirements in the annual management of a cattle operation. Researchers across the country have long

Wednesday, the House of Representatives passed a resolution that would render the federal Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule ineffective. In order to keep the WOTUS definition in force President Obama will have to

You gotta love Australians. They never lamb alone. Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA), the organization of livestock producers down under, thumbs their collective noses at any PC ideas. MLA launched a new ad ahead of Aust

January has arrived. Traditionally this is the time of year when people reflect on the year past and also think about changes that could be made in the New Year to move them toward their goals. As you make plans for thi

The time of the year when frost seedings are most effectively done will be here before long. One can use this method to renovate pastures, improve stands, or alter the species mix within a pasture. Producers should reme

Corn stored in all positions on December 1, 2015 totaled 11.2 billion bushels, up slightly from December 1, 2014. Of the total stocks, 6.83 billion bushels are stored on farms, down 4 percent from a year earlier. Off-fa

Ask livestock producers in Kansas to name the most threatening predator to their operation, and most, if not all, will have the same answer: coyotes. In Kansas, this member of the canine family can be trapped year-round

A new online tool can help landowners and land managers better understand their land.