– Victor Shelton, NRCS State Agronomist/Grazing Specialist Cows happily grazing stockpiled forage. (Chris Hollen photo) I’m not really sure where this year went. At least for me, it seems like it should still be October, but the weather outside indicates a different message. Grazing activity for a lot of producers starts slowing down this time [...]

– Dr. Andrew Griffith, Assistant Professor, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, University of Tennessee There have been a few questions the past two or three weeks concerning the optimal weight to market calves and feeder cattle. These questions hinged around the weight that would return the largest profit. The answer to this question changes [...]

– Derrell S. Peel, Oklahoma State University Livestock Marketing Specialist The cull cow market likely reached a seasonal low in November but it has been difficult to understand this market this year. Prices for Breaker cows in Oklahoma City averaged $50.13 per hundredweight in November, nearly 11 percent lower year over year, while Boning cows [...]

– Stan Smith, OSU Extension PA, Fairfield County Trudging through mud that’s only dew claw deep can reduce animal performance by as much as 7% As most of Ohio quickly approaches the record for the wettest year in history, cattlemen continue to deal with the ramifications caused when it gets wet in February, stays wet [...]

– Jared Geiser, Research Assistant, and Brenda Boetel, Professor and Extension Economist, Department of Agricultural Economics, University of Wisconsin-River Falls Mexico historically has been an important source of feeder cattle for U.S. cattlemen, with feeder calf imports of approximately 1 million head a year since the mid-1980s. Imports grew from 702,000 head in 2008 to [...]

– Justin Sexten, Ph.D., Director, CAB Supply Development We sometimes associate cause and effect without knowing the real link, or as an academic buzz phrase has it, “correlation does not equal causation.” A quick search provides a humorous example. Did you know ice cream sales and shark attacks are highly correlated? While true in a [...]

– Dr. Andrew Griffith, Assistant Professor, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, University of Tennessee FED CATTLE: Fed cattle trade was not well established at press as bid and ask prices were separated by as much as $8 on live basis. Prices are likely to settle near un-changed compared to last week. The 5-area weighted [...]

Bruce Anderson, Nebraska Extension Forage Specialist When you test your hay or corn stalks or cover crop for nitrates, look closely at the report to see what method your lab used to report your nitrate results. Photo credit Troy Walz. I just got the forage test results back from the lab and the nitrate score [...]

– John F. Grimes, OSU Extension Beef Coordinator The Ohio Cattlemen’s Association (OCA) held their sixth annual Replacement Female Sale on November 23 at the Muskingum Livestock Auction Company in Zanesville, Ohio. A large crowd was on hand to bid on 107 high quality females in the sale. The sale represented an excellent opportunity for [...]

– Matthew A. Diersen, Professor and Extension Specialist, Department of Economics, South Dakota State University Last week brought a flurry of market information from various NASS reports that give added insight into the cattle supply situation and the inventory levels likely in 2019. In the November Cattle on Feed report, placements were lower and marketings [...]