Grazing

Parasites impact every aspect and segment of cattle production – feed conversion, immune response, milk production, reproductive performance and overall health.

For the nearly 50 years I have been involved with the sale and management of ranches, I have preached the same gospel: Just because you own a ranch, doesn’t mean you have to own cows.

Ranchers and rangeland managers sometimes use fire to retard invasive brush such as juniper or cedar and create more forage. In the process, this also reduces fuel loads to prevent catastrophic wildfires.

Of the many working pieces to running a successful cattle operation, one cog in the machine must be top-notch in order to achieve a natural ebb and flow: quality grass.

Spring has finally sprung in the northern Rockies. Grass is growing, irrigation water is flowing, and it will look green as Ireland for about another four to six weeks till we start going dormant and dry again.

Much has been written about Kentucky 31 (KY-31) tall fescue over the last few decades. Most cattle producers living in the approximately 35 million-acre fescue belt (which encompasses Missouri and Arkansas, the mid-Atlantic states and most of the Southeast) understand the negative effects KY-31 tall fescue grass can have on production.