Herd Quitter® Blog
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
Tighten Your Belt and Plan Ahead
We have not seen a true bottom of a cattle cycle since 1996. That was 20 years ago. While most cattlemen whined and complained about the low prices, a few took advantage of the situation. There have always been more opportunities to advance in a down market than...
2 Cents on Beefmaster
I guess it is time for me to share my two cent’s worth… Growing up in the 1960s, Tom Lasater was my mentor and hero. He had an ad every month on the inside cover of the Western Livestock Journal – where he shared his philosophies, as well as pictures of his cattle....