By Wendy Sweeter For Jeff and Gidget McAreavey of Crooks,  South Dakota being deeply involved in agricultural and community activities is a way of life. The McAreavey family has been honored as the 2025 Farm Family of the Year by the Agribusiness Division of the Greater Sioux Falls Chamber of Commerce. Jeff and Gidget live on the farm where Jeff grew up, located on the edge of Crooks, with their two teenage daughters, Ireland and Kendall. After graduating from Tri-Valley High School in 1995, Jeff earned a degree in John Deere ag technology at the North Dakota State College of...

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  Cattle and calves on feed for the slaughter market in the United States for  feedlots with capacity of 1,000 or more head totaled 11.8 million head on  January 1, 2025. The inventory was 1 percent below January 1, 2024. The  inventory included 7.25 million steers and steer calves, up 1 percent from  the previous year. This group accounted for 61 percent of the total  inventory. Heifers and heifer calves accounted for 4.58 million head, down  3 percent from 2024. Placements in feedlots during December totaled 1.64 million head, 3 percent below 2023. Net placements were 1.58 million head. During...

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By Matt Dabrowski The cattle industry's search for signs of herd rebuilding has focused on one key metric: the percentage of heifers in feedlots. The latest USDA quarterly data shows heifers make up 40% of feedlot inventory, well above the long-run average of 36%, driven by persistent drought and strong prices over the past three years. The heifers on feed benchmark represents a simple historical intuition: when ranchers start rebuilding herds, they hold back heifers from feedlots relative to steers. Since 36% is the long-term average, we can't say heifer feeding has meaningfully declined until it drops below this level....

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By Connie Sieh Groop Focusing on functional cattle, the Schoenfelds of Dawson, Minnesota, breed Simmental cows with power, mass, and muscle. They prioritize above-average Expected Progeny Differences (EPDs) to ensure growth and performance.  “We achieve growth and performance by combining phenotype and genotype to produce predictable cattle,” said Mark Schoenfeld. Circle S Cattle Company features 50 to 60 registered Simmental cows. Located in west-central Minnesota, Mark and Kami Schoenfeld operate with the help of their sons, Colton, 13, and Braxton, 10. Kami’s parents, Harvey and Gladys Harstad, work with them and keep the cow herd at their farm near Appleton....

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  By Kelly Brandlee, CBW Over 14 years ago, Aaron Fleck was a full-time welder at a Bobcat plant in Bismarck, North Dakota. His wife, Andrea, had recently left her full-time job to stay home with their three young children. When the plant suddenly shut down, the couple found themselves at a crossroads, contemplating their next steps. In the aftermath of the closure, Aaron turned to his side business—custom fencing, landscaping, and snow removal. With a small herd of cattle already in their care, the family began considering the possibility of expanding their cattle operation. Guided by the expertise of...

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From CBW News Desk Reopening to Mexico? Media outlets have widely reported that the USDA’s Animal Plant Health and Inspection Service (APHIS) will resume live cattle imports from Mexico into the United States the week of Jan. 20. Wanting to confirm this date, the Cattle Business Weekly contacted APHIS and received this written response: “The USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has not established a date to resume cattle imports from Mexico. The United States continues to work very closely with Mexico, and APHIS will announce when trade resumes.” On Nov. 22, 2024, the U.S. closed its borders...

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