Herd Quitter Blog

Peter, Paul and Mary was a very popular American folk singing group in the 1960s. In 1962, they had a big hit when they recorded a song called “Where Have All The Flowers Gone?” Where have all the flowers gone?Long time passing.Where have all the flowers goneLong time...

Horn flies are costing the cattle industry billions of dollars every year. Controlling horn flies with chemical insecticides is not working because horn flies have been able to develop a resistance to all of the chemical insecticides that have been used in the last 80...

In last week’s PCC Update (sign up here), we began a discussion on horn fly control that was prompted by an article on page 2 of our Summer 2024 Newsletter. Most of today’s cow-calf producers have been programmed by the chemical companies to treat the symptoms of the...

I have subscribed to “The Weekly Market Summary” put out by The Cattle Range for over 14 years. I receive it via email every Saturday morning. If you want up-to-date news, market reports and commentaries, this weekly email is a must! Several times within the last six...

We spend a lot of time talking about working on the business, about planning and marketing. The goal is to get people to look at options on paper that make the most financial sense. Maybe selling 6-weight calves in October isn’t the best financial plan? Maybe selling...

I know many of our subscribers also subscribe to The Stockman Grass Farmer (SGF). It is one of very few outside-the-box ag publications. I got hooked on it in the late 1980s. SGF is having a special gathering for outside-the-box people August 22 and 23 at Joel...

NOTE: This article is somewhat of a follow up to my previous Business or Hobby and Small Producers articles. It was originally shared in September of 2016. However, I have made several revisions. I am fortunate enough to know several very successful cattlemen who...

This article is a follow up to last week’s "Business or Hobby" article. It was first shared in January of 2022 in response to a question I had been asked by a relatively new subscriber in Arkansas. He asked, “What would be your recommendations for a small producer -...

When most people think of cattle ranches, they think of wide-open spaces in the arid west where several hundred cows have thousands of acres to roam about. Those ranches exist – but they are not the norm. They probably never were the norm. The size of the average...