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Animal welfare is a hot topic among all sectors of agriculture – and as cattle producers, it is something we have practiced for generations. However, there are two major issues when it comes to animal welfare:

Consumers have a desire to feel connected with their food. Most are several generations removed from agriculture and are genuinely curious about where their food comes from and how it was raised. The Consumer Beef Tracker, a continuous online survey run by National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) on behalf of the beef checkoff, identified that 58% of consumers had a “concern” with how cattle are raised. The tracker, which targets 500 consumers per month and is census balanced for age, gender and region, found that of those consumers who acknowledged a concern, most cited “animal welfare” as the main source of their apprehension.

It’s that time of year when my phone starts to ring and callers on the other end are desperate for me to triage their estrous synchronization dilemmas.

On this planet, bacteria outnumber every other type of living organism. Researchers estimate the total number of bacteria at any moment in time ranges in the millions of trillions of trillions. (That’s 30 zeros.)

Feed efficiency is highly heritable and can be measured with residual feed intake (RFI). Dr. Randall Raymond, director of research and veterinary services at Simplot Livestock, says most breeders want to make cattle more efficient using less inputs.