By George Lauby, The North Platte Bulletin   High hopes for the future of the beef industry, for profitable ranchers and cattle feeders, for North Platte and Nebraska as a whole — all of that was in the air Monday, March 24 as the ribbon was cut on the Sustainable Beef plant. The ribbon was cut around 3:30 p.m. for the 0 million plant, which is expected to process its first beef in the latter half of May. Some 1,000 people got a look at the plant, now nearly complete after 30 consecutive months of construction, and many months...

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Managing a successful business often involves making a series of decisions with the end goal of providing a quality outcome at a profit.  In the beef cattle business, one of those decisions is what to do when a cow doesn’t rebreed and is considered open, said the experts at the Kansas State University Beef Cattle Institute.  “Every cow needs to have a calf every year or it is a loss to the operation, but even with those losses it is possible to recoup some value to the operation,” K-State veterinarian Brian Lubbers said.  Speaking on a recent Cattle Chat podcast,...

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By John Sachse Do you ever feel the weight of the world on your shoulders?  Stress, burdens, and obstacles are no strangers to the men and women involved in production agriculture! In fact, they are a part of life. However, we have two options when faced with these hurdles. We can allow them to wear us down or we can rise above and choose to live a life full of resiliency that demands flexibility and adaptability.  Resiliency is the ability to grow and thrive in the face of challenges. It’s about bouncing back from adversity when it arrives at our...

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  By Connie Sieh Groop Back in 2014, Blue Chip Herefords at Oxford, Neb., began with four heifers. Patience and hard work grew those numbers to 150 head and established a reputation for good keeper cows and bulls that last. When getting back into the business 10 years ago, Tracy McGee, 64, says their small numbers    forced them to look for something different. “Since then we developed an extensive embryo transplant program to advance the herd to utilize top bulls and cows from across the nation,” Tracy says. “We have 75 Hereford and 75 recip cows. We breed for...

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    The Climate Prediction Center gives S.D. an equal chance of going further into drought or escaping it in April As of March 18, 2025, 100% of South Dakota is under drought conditions with 42% of the state under severe or extreme drought. During the same time last year, 11% of the state was experiencing drought with no areas under severe or extreme drought.  Each week, federal government drought experts check several variables including precipitation, temperatures, soil moisture, water levels in streams and lakes and snow cover to determine drought conditions.  Experts predict that South Dakota drought conditions will...

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  An outdated prohibition almost cost Heidi Nicholas her marriage. On paper, anyway. When the chance arose to buy Empire Livestock — a business with six livestock auction markets across New York — she seized it. Nicholas understood the markets’ vital role in the region and saw no one else stepping up to keep them running. But there was one major obstacle: her husband owned Nicholas Meat, a packing company in Pennsylvania. A Packers and Stockyards Act requirement, which predates modern livestock auctions, prohibits livestock market owners from owning packing companies. Even though Nicholas planned to purchase the auction markets...

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K-State beef cattle scientist explains shortening the calving window for beef cattle herds    Timing is the key to a successful calving season, but beef cattle producers often wonder how they can narrow the calving window, or the timeframe in which cows will be giving birth. Speaking on a recent Cattle Chat podcast, K-State beef cattle scientist Bob Larson said a wide calving window poses two main challenges for producers: Aligning calving with forage seasons, because forage must be adequate for the lactating cows. Calves born early in the season have higher weight and value, thus a tighter calving season...

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I am writing this week's column in the early morning hours of April 1st.  The moisture I see coming down from the sky is a welcomed blessing. Local weathermen on the television say we can expect to receive this wintery mix of moisture until midday on Wednesday. That is exactly the forecast we were hoping for! We don’t need two or three feet of snow, but we do need moisture to sink in the ground as well as runoff in the creeks. It appears much of our region will be blessed with measurable precipitation the first few days of  April....

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By Justin Slabaugh, Blue Reef Agri-Marketing The eagerly awaited Cattle on Feed Report, released last Friday, is likely to keep sentiment around the market strong, but it is worth taking a deeper dive into the data. For starters, the report revealed a 17.8% decrease in placements during the month of February compared to last year, with 1.554 million head of cattle placed. Given the current market conditions and the fact that the average trade guess was only calling for 14.4% lower placements, it can be easy to view the report as extremely friendly. However, adding some extra context to that...

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By Codi Vallery-Mills Cattle prices continue to hold steady to higher across all classes this March. John Steeves, Head of Rural Business, North America, for Rabobank, says prices will likely remain elevated for several years. And the U.S. beef herd may be entering into a slow rebuild. There is optimism in the cattle industry, but a note of caution as well Steeves comments. “Every segment of the supply chain – from the ranch to feedyard to processor to retailer – is equally cautious regarding the rapidly rising costs to replace inventory. High-quality bred heifers are bringing around ,000 per head,...

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