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Winter’s short days and long, cold nights often bring less outdoor activity and more time to rest, physically and mentally. Both man and beast benefit from rest and recuperation.

Cattle producers have known for a long time that wild cattle were probably less profitable than their calmer contemporaries, but there wasn’t a great deal of hard data to back up this suspicion.

Delivery of a live, healthy calf is a complex process. Thankfully, in a high percentage of cattle this process proceeds uneventfully and new generations of calves are born with little or no fanfare.

The following is a fictional story based on real results from a three-year university study.*

Two neighboring ranchers met often at the local coffee shop to argue the merits of their different approaches to cow-calf management. Tom Tightfist was convinced that cutting feed expenses was the only way to improve profits, while his buddy, Sam Spendabuck, believed increasing inputs would net better returns. It was a friendly but passionate argument.

The task of raising useful seedstock comes with many hurdles. Outfits must forge a path in a competitive industry where creating the right product in the 21st century is just half the battle.

Dale Sauls was no stranger to “fixed-time” artificial insemination. The Florida native had used the reproductive management tool in his commercial dairy operation. So when he and his wife, Connie, moved with their daughters to Mountain Grove, Missouri three years ago, it was only natural for them to incorporate fixed-time AI into their beef herd.