Guest Blog

With the cattle market looking a little shaky, we’ve decided it’s time to look for additional sources of income. After scrolling through 95 infomercial channels in search of one TV show my husband and I could agree on, I have hit on the perfect solution: a week-long, fat-blaster workout called the Hay Hauler’s Shape-Up.

The nutritional requirements of animals vary, and ensuring that their dietary needs are met from grazed forages can be challenging.

I failed and broke a promise. Not long ago, I told my friend Mary Beth that I would always write about her son-in-law for my Memorial Day column. SFC Forrest Robertson made the ultimate sacrifice in Afghanistan; he died protecting each one of us. He is the only hero that I knew personally that made the greatest sacrifice, and that is why I have vowed to never forget. Then Monday happened.

One reason why forage-livestock production is challenging is that the value of forage is surprisingly dynamic. Forage value increases when forage growth is limited by weather, when alternative feeds are expensive or when pastures on a farm are stocked too heavily.

Got the cold “ham sammich” blues? I hate to tell you this, but it may be a few months before you’ll have time to sit down to the warm “meat, potatoes and gravy” meals again. The good news is that auto-steer changes the game for what you can eat in the tractor cab these days. Just imagine – your lunch can even include a fork now.

This morning I ran across an advertisement for a clinic on "low-stress cattle handling." Hallelujah! Why didn't somebody think of this before? I want to enroll our entire herd, especially the yearlings.