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Challenges bestowed upon the industry made it clear that a better identification and tracking system was needed at some point.

Call it a reboot for the government’s biggest animal ID undertaking ever.

The U.S Department of Agriculture is preparing to take another shot at an animal disease traceability program this spring, while pinning its hopes that beef producers are more agreeable the second time around.

We all know that recordkeeping is important for tax purposes, as well as for keeping track of day-to-day activities on the ranch, but most ranchers do not keep the right kind of records.

Calving season means different things to different cattle producers. Some producers bring every heifer and cow to a calving shed. Others only bring in their heifers. Our ranch has enough winter ground that we are able to calve our cows outside. This has allowed calving to be relatively low-stress for us. We pasture breed our first-calf heifers to low birth weight bulls and check them periodically throughout the day during calving season. It works beautifully.

Beef producers in the United States have been able to effectively increase the amount of beef produced without increasing the number of animals overall through selective breeding for genetically superior animals and improved nutrition and management.

This time of year a variety of catalogs appear in the mailboxes of rural landowners. These catalogs have the latest offerings in seed corn, soybeans, vegetables, flowers, poultry and beef breeding stock, especially bulls.