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Where will your calves be three months from now? What about six months from now? It is never too early to start thinking about castrating calves, sending steers off to the feedlot or whatever the next step in your operation is.

If you’ve been involved in the cattle industry for any length of time, you are likely familiar with the term freemartin, a heifer who is born a twin to a bull calf.

This article is part four in a five-part series. Be sure to read the final installment “When time for termination comes” in the upcoming April issue.

Managers and employees often dread the annual process of reviewing employee performance.

Cattle producers are surrounded by data. Whether it’s weaning weights, days open or number of cattle on a given pasture, the data we collect on our operations is only beneficial if we utilize it.

Sire selection requires identifying a breeding objective; choosing a breed or (preferably) breeds, based on objective differences; choosing a seedstock supplier and then choosing a bull. This requires knowledge of production environments, firm-level economics, breed differences, heterosis and genetic predictions (e.g., expected progeny difference or EPD).

Thanks to new research and better techniques, IVF is more affordable for beef and dairy producers.