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ranchers observing cattle in late winter pasture

Late-Term Reproductive Losses in Beef Cattle: Diagnosing the Cause

Reproductive losses account for $1 billion in lost revenue to the beef industry each year. With cattle reproduction, focusing on what we can control and diagnose is the key to avoiding these losses.

a bare, freshly tilled field awaiting planting.

Field Studies: What do You Mean 5 Bushels Per Acre is Not Significant?

Utilizing sound research results to help make decisions on the farm is a wise business practice. It can be confusing, however, when you see two numbers that are clearly not the same labeled as “not significantly different.”

Yellow seed hoppers being filled with pink-colored corn hybrid seeds.

Switching Corn Hybrid Maturities

The decision to change maturities is ultimately up to each individual producer and is based on unique situations such as risk tolerance and harvest capabilities, such as drying capacity.

Farmer sitting inside the cab of a green tractor parked inside a machine shed.

Bookwork, The Missing Management Component: Depreciation Determination and Use

Another component of determining net income is depreciation. This is one component of the Schedule F that many understand the least. Typically, the most use it gets is to minimize income tax through accelerated tax depreciation under section 179.

A green tractor pulling a red wagon next to a pile of wet distillers grains.

Storing Wet and Modified Distillers Grains

One of the primary challenges for livestock producers in the coming months could very well be feedstuff cost and availability due to the fact that the corn planted acreage and crop progress are both well behind normal benchmarks. One opportunity that might help cattle feeders proactively secure feed supplies would be storing wet or modified distiller’s grains now to be fed at a later date.

Two common caterpillar pests of corn. Top: Corn earworm caterpillar. Bottom: European corn borer.

A Case of Mistaken Caterpillar Identity

Tweets about European corn borer (Ostrinia nubilalis) caterpillars in the stems of conventional corn and feeding in the whorls of corn are crossing my Twitter feed. Unfortunately, there is a problem with some of these tweets. Not all of the caterpillars that are being identified as European corn borer caterpillars are actually European corn borer caterpillars!

A black, plastic case containing a captive bolt stunner kit along with laminated instructions for properly using the tool for euthanasia.

Reviewing Humane Euthanasia Protocols

Unresolvable health problems and injuries occur in pigs in every swine operation and having a plan in place to humanely deal with these issues is critical. This includes having a written protocol for timely euthanasia.

A young man in a gray shirt and white cap scouting a soybean field for soybean aphids.

Should I Spray for Soybean Aphids? What’s the Threshold?

Although many soybean fields are behind schedule, so are the soybean aphid populations. In many reported areas, there are hotspots within a field where a few soybean plants may be heavily infested.

A screenshot of the ag land soil tables tool.

South Dakota Agricultural Land Soil Productivity Tool

The Ag Land Soil Tables Tool allows users to view soil data and download data by county to further understand the soil rating system. It can help appraisers make baseline agricultural land assessments and determine if adjustments from baseline are needed.

Screenshot of the SDSU Interactive Grain Report Tool.

Interactive Grain Report Tool

The SDSU Extension Interactive Grain Report Tool is a comprehensive, real-time agricultural market intelligence platform providing detailed analysis of U.S. grain markets, biofuels production, fertilizer markets, and transportation infrastructure.