Welcome to Part 2 of our blog series on Testing and Measuring the Quality of your Cattle's Winter Hay. Please be sure to read Part 1 - Why should we care about hay quality? Today's post will focus on the methodology of collecting a forage sample, the tools/supplies needed, and where you can send your forage sample for analysis. We live in Northern Maine and send our … [Read more...] about Testing and Measuring the Quality of your Cattle’s Winter Hay – PART 2: Testing Hay Quality
Cattle Industry
Testing and Measuring the Quality of your Cattle’s Winter Hay – PART 1: Why should we care about hay quality?
This will be a 3-part blog series on: Testing and Measuring the Quality of your Cattle's Winter Hay. Today's post is Part 1 - Why should we care about hay quality? (Part 2 of our series is ready to read as well! Please check it out!) Forage costs are arguably the highest expense for any cattle operation, especially for those farmers whom feed-out hundreds of hay bales … [Read more...] about Testing and Measuring the Quality of your Cattle’s Winter Hay – PART 1: Why should we care about hay quality?
Why Are Lighter Calves Worth More Per Pound?
If you keep an eye on cattle prices, you'll notice the large disparity in prices paid for calves of different weights. For instance, 700-800 lb steers in Nebraska are currently selling for around $1.60/lb, but in the same market, 300-400 lb steers are up around $2.20/lb. Now that's a huge difference! So what's the deal? To better understand the disparity in prices of different … [Read more...] about Why Are Lighter Calves Worth More Per Pound?
From Pasture to Plate: The Three Sectors of the Beef Cattle Industry
Like most mature industries, the beef cattle business is broken up into different segments in the production chain. Why? Because as the industry developed over the past century, it became more efficient for a particular business to focus on a smaller segment of overall production. Efficiency means lower cost and more productivity, which is why the beef business is segmented … [Read more...] about From Pasture to Plate: The Three Sectors of the Beef Cattle Industry