Herd Quitter™ Blog
Quote Worth Re-Quoting
"As you move outside your comfort zone, what was once the unknown and frightening becomes your new normal.” ~ Robin S. Sharma
You CANNOT Vaccinate Your Way to Health
WillWinterDVM@gmail.com With improved herd health in mind, I hold the following ten truths to be self-evident… Vaccinations have allowed more and more animals with broken immune systems to live and breed. Vaccine, when it works, only blocks one way to get sick. It...
Fly Control
The hottest topic within the beef industry right now is fly control. When confronted with a problem, most producers are quick to spend an inordinate amount of time, energy and money treating the symptoms – while they totally ignore the problem. Folks, if we never...
Slantwise Logic
By Chip Hines ChipHines@outlook.com If you are dousing your cattle with chemicals to control flies, all you are doing is decreasing your herd’s natural resistance. This locks you into another chemical when resistance builds to the first chemical. You are locked...
Quote Worth Re-Quoting
"Most people would rather fail conventionally than succeed unconventionally. This is why 1% of the U.S. population earns 37% of the national income. Following the crowd is not the way to achieve wealth.” ~ Allan Nation
Things Are Looking Up (part 2)
Some of the thoughts I shared last week raised a few questions, so I decided to expand this discussion. Since we have not seen a true bottom to a cattle cycle since 1996, many have forgotten how the cattle cycle works. For the most part, the cattle cycle is based...
Sabbath Day Devotion
Iron Sharpens Iron – As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another. Proverbs 27:17 This very short proverb, written by Solomon, has many applications. I believe it has physical, mental and spiritual relevance. We need the presence of others to reach our...
Pharo Phamily Reunion
Last week, I shared a picture of the 24 people who participated in the 2017 Pharo Phamily Reunion. I then asked if you could pick out and identify the four siblings (Kit, Brett, Kathy and Jen). We did receive some response to this question....
Increasing Cost of Production
According to the Livestock Marketing Information Center (LMIC), the cost of producing a calf has increased from $384 in 2000 to $883 in 2014. WOW… it way more than doubled in just 14 years. Keep in mind, though, that this is an average cost of production. Some...
Things Are Looking Up
Cattle prices have been making some remarkable recoveries. Below is a 60-day Market Trendline created by The Cattle Range for June 2, 2017. This provides a quick overview of our markets and where they might be headed. The angle indicates direction and velocity...