Herd Quitter™ Blog
Change the Cow
Cows must fit their environment to stay in production. Common sense tells us it is much easier, as well as much more profitable, to change the cow to fit her environment than it is to artificially change the environment to fit the cow. Your environment can only...
One Down and Two To Go! Nebraska Sale was a success….
Around 60 people from at least eight different states attended the pre-sale meeting in Valentine, Nebraska, to hear Kit Pharo speak. Kit reports that it was extremely refreshing to be around so many cow-calf producers with a positive attitude, who are excited and...
Family Matters-
Most farms and ranches are family-owned businesses. Some have been passed on from one generation to the next. If you are like most cow-calf producers, you hope to pass your operation on to your kids and to their kids. Although not always possible, each...
Sticking Your Head in the Sand… …is NOT a Management Strategy
Ignorance may be bliss – but it is a very poor management strategy. Ignoring your problems may be easier than dealing with them, but it will not make them go away. Eventually, you will have to face reality – and deal with it. Sooner is almost always better than later....
Calving Ease Comparison
In last week’s PCC Update, I compared maintenance requirements of the AI sires in the latest ABS and Genex catalogs to the bulls we will be selling in our three fall bull sales. Since most seedstock producers use bulls promoted and marketed by the major AI...
Quick Sort Tips
Sort for one or two traits and see how many bulls made your sort. Sort for another trait and see how many bulls you lose. You can sort and resort many times. If you lose a lot of bulls, you might want to reconsider the sort you just made. Consider changing a 4...
Hot Topic: Cow Size
Every morning, I glance through beef publications and articles – both in hardcopy and on the internet. There have been very few mornings that I didn’t see an article about “cow size.” It seems to have replaced “fly control” as the hottest topic going. Everyone...
Cowboy Logic
“Think small. Big ideas upset people.”
Do Small Cows Make More Money?
For years, indeed decades, the argument over cow size has been bantered about by cattle producers. Now, adding to the debate, research from Wyoming shows smaller cows can produce more beef per acre, as well as produce more income. The research report is available in...
Quote Worth Re-quoting
“It is easier to fool people than to convince them that they have been fooled.” ~ Mark Twain