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Despite the drop in cow numbers, total beef production is actually a little higher, year on year. We are feeding to heavier weights while exporting less and importing more. This may moderate the prices we have been seeing this spring but could help keep prices higher in the long run by keeping...

My experience is that pups should not be weaned from from their mom until 7 or 8 weeks. Those that are weaned early lack certain basic skills and do not socialize as well. Just my experience over the years. Someone may have an exception that developed differently.

A dog that will not mind or that you can't call off the cows is worse than no dog at all. The drive and instinct to work stock is important, but even more you want the dog to try and please you.

I fought the red calf/black calf price differential for years, and gave away a lot of money in the process. Now I have Angus or SimAngus bulls and have profited from it. I still love to see red cattle and maybe the short cattle numbers will help them sell higher. It is hard to beat the eye...

Our vet was very reasonably priced, and with a small herd figured I saved a little by not having a lot of unused bottles lying around. He also brought help with him and I did not have to hire help, maybe just ask a favor of wife or daughter. He would do a rabies shot for one of the dogs, or...

For many years a yearly visit by the vet with his chute has been part of my routine, well over the last 15 years with the same vet. We worked the calves and wormed and vaccinated the cows, often working the calves a second time in the fall. I might have to wait until late in the day but I could...

I grew up hearing the older folks saying Sa heifer (pronounced with a drawn out short A or Sah) to a cow that did not want to claim her calf or to a cow you were trying to get take another calf. I heard it so often and from so many I began to use the phrase myself. We said it every time the cow...

Ultimately, cattle are only worth what people can or will pay for beef. Sometimes extremely high prices in the short run are harmful to long term profits. Too often, when prices get too high, it is the farmer or cattleman that takes the hit. It should not be that way, but it is. I guess this is...

The only fence I ever had that would hold goats is electrified netting. Not bad to fool with in the winter but grass and weeds make it a hassle in the spring and summer. If you feed them and give them a dry place to stay in, you can't run them off, they will follow you around. I think a well...

A little disappointing after all the hoopla. My daughter drove over two hours into Indiana to watch with her kids but they were not all that impressed. I worked around the farm but did look up about 3:00 P.M. After being mostly cloudy, the skies had cleared to see our 90% eclipse. The oddest...

So far most of the drop has been in the futures. Cash market is also off, particularly calves and yearlings. Pound cows and bulls are holding up the best, but they are also off over $5. Supposed to be the bird flu deal, but the market seemed to be looking for a reason to cool off. Is it a time...

Kenny, I did not feed hay on February 30th either.

We had daffodils blooming in mid-February and only the latest blooming varieties remain. We had an early spring and prolonged winter (if that makes sense). I am still feeding a little hay to the cows. It has been in the low 40s since Monday and supposed to get down to 29 tonight. I have been...

If beef is going to remain a major portion of the American diet, where will it come from? This thing has a different feel than previous cattle cycle bull markets. Usually by this time in the cycle people are keeping back heifers in a big way. Around here I continue to hear of farmer's selling...

75 per cent heifers, both last year and this. I had the same thought about this telling us we need to replenish the herd.

I have kept dogs with the instinct to work cattle for well over 50 years. Some have been a real asset; others a lot of trouble. For over 20 years I have kept a line of dogs descended from a pup we picked up from a fellow competitor at the state fair, an Australian Shepherd and Border Collie...

At the sale in Richmond on Friday, most any cow 4 to 6 months bred or under and over 1100 lbs. sold by the pound. Slaughter bulls and cows sold well into the teens, twenties and thirties. This is really becoming worrisome (though nice for the billfold of those selling). It is not good for the...

Year before last was a "clover year" here, a year when clover, both red and white, appear from the seedbank in abundance. My hay was full of red clover seed this winter and it sprouted everywhere about the last of February. A couple of cold snaps appear to have done a number on it. Lots of...

Showing hogs has become quite the "in" thing around here in local fairs. They and the goats have pushed the lambs to the side, and even cattle to an extent. It always reminded me of trying to load hogs and brought back bad memories.

Nice! You are in the Black Hereford business. My cows are mostly bred back in a line to a couple of cows I owned 38 and 20 years ago respectfully. I have always purchased my bulls so no inbreeding there. The sheep are descended from those my daughters showed in 4H some 15 to 20 years ago. I do...