Pastures are looking pretty good so far, but rainfall will determine how successful the grazing season turns out.

Everything seems 10 days early. All the first-crop hay was harvested in late May as the weather turned favorable for drying.

The past two to three weeks have been a frenzy of synchronization and breeding protocols, enough to make your head spin and hard to keep up with.

Good pasture management can result in more productive pastures during the summer.

The number of acres managed by Illinois Society of Professional Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers members increased substantially in 10 years.

If we want this way of life to be here for the next generation, we must be willing to speak up for it by showing up in conversations where decisions are made and making sure rural voices are heard.

It’s never been so expensive for Americans to buy a steak or hamburger, but cutting those costs requires ranchers like Stephanie Hatzenbuhler to raise more cattle — and that’s not an easy ask.

I expect next fall the replacement ewe lambs to be setting price records with the great demand we’ve encountered.

I planted cereal rye right into the bean stubble, after combining the beans off last fall. I never got enough rain to get enough growth to be able to graze it last fall.

Farming is a gamble every year when challenged by the weather and the cost of crop inputs, so there is no thought of gambling the future of the farm away at the casino.

In May, grass is growing fast, and it’s easy to get ahead of yourself and move too quickly. Instead of sticking to a pre-set plan, watch what the plants are doing.

As we continue the great ride with cattle prices we still must do some things well to be as profitable as possible.

For sheep producers who have a shortage of hay stocks or are concerned about pasture conditions they should take action now to prepare for the year ahead.

Cattle, sheep and goat prices are at record or near record levels and fundamentally should remain that way for some time to come.

We have continued to have a few health problems here with the insurance calves and now we have more mud.

Brush in our pastures is my nemesis and I find myself looking for every opportunity to do damage to every Russian olive and locust tree on the planet.

You drive past or in the fields and lots where we are calving and there are babies running around, enjoying their surroundings and their new playmates.

As days lengthen and soil temperatures begin inching upward, cool-season forages slowly wake from dormancy.

When we drone seeded clover on the wheat last February it had just a little green, but I was hoping it would soon look better and it does.

My next project in the mill is making a tweed-type yarn from a Shetland fleece. I found a nice cream-colored fleece and a light tan fleece. Both fleeces should spin to nice yarn.

The “I” states each lost several hundred farms from 2024 to 2025, along with declines in acreage, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Land in Farms report.

The September-seeded rye really greened up with the rain and temperatures, so some grazing may be taking place soon.

A little moisture is all it takes to get folks thinking spring has arrived.

Indiana farmers can apply for free soil sampling through a statewide program aimed at improving nutrient management and water quality.

We’ve had several inquiries by folks wanting to get started since these sky-high prices, both beef and lamb, have shown the benefit of diversifying from the corn and bean doldrums.

This is the middle of February and it’s not supposed to be this dry.

While winter grazing can work, understanding the physiological stress it places on forage plants — and planning for recovery — is critical to long-term pasture health.

Regenerative agriculture is about mimicking nature’s principles, designs and patterns.

Join University of Illinois Extension for a series, “Pasture Improvement: The Basics and Beyond,” that will focus on management strategies to improve pasture productivity and resilience.

I just returned from a quick trip to CattleCon, the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association’s annual meeting and trade show. The industry is rapidly growing with technology.

Smith Family Farms focuses on meeting environmental goals with a cow herd, cover crops and no-till planting.

Managing an adaptive grazing management system is a thinking person’s game.

Enjoy your health and protect your body. You’re only going through this life one time.

January is a natural time to reflect back, think forward and set the stage for a more resilient grazing season.

Clean water is essential for every farmer and rancher; we depend on it every day. That’s why we’re encouraged to see the new proposed rule from the Environmental Protection Agency and Army Corps of Engineers.

We have been going hard with AI synchronization and breeding, both cows and heifers.

The university extension services in Illinois, Iowa and Wisconsin are teaming together to offer the Driftless Region Beef Conference to educate beef producers.

The Illinois Corn Growers Association announced that Laura Lant, an agronomist at Midwest Grass & Forage in Macomb, received the Mike Plumer Environmental Excellence Award at the organization’s annual meeting.

With historically strong beef prices driving profitability for many ranchers in 2025, now may be the ideal time to reinvest in their operations by enhancing feed grain, hay and pasture production by adding center pivot irrigation.

After experiencing the biggest cattle industry event of the year, CattleCon 2026 attendees are encouraged to stay a little longer to see Tennessee cattle country firsthand.

I still consider beef and lamb prices a bargain compared to most store items on most shoppers’ grocery list. And that good red meat is building health, not destroying it.

At 92, Mom had outlived all her siblings and all her classmates, but her passing has left a big hole to fill in all the love she poured into all the friends and family that were lucky enough to know her.

We never quit trying to solve problems and figure out what could we have done better.

We have been in this pattern now for three years, not just 2025 — hot, dry periods with lots of strong drying winds and a lack of snow to make up for deficiency from the rest of the season.

Ever since Corey Trobaugh was a kid, he wanted to either defend his country or help feed it — and he has done both.

After college, Marcus Maier got a full-time job, but he still had the notion of joining the Army in the back of his mind.

I admire those older ranchers for their work ethic and their passion to care for their flock, but it is hard to duplicate that in the younger generation.

I’m one month earlier than normal to graze my last farmette, just to give you an idea of how dry it is and how sparse the grass is.

The ducks are pretty messy with their water, but their funny walks and greetings make them fun to have in the barn.

The earliest winter calvers were moved to corn residue closer to his home and, as mentioned last month, half of the stocker steers grazing the sorghum-sudangrass also were shipped out to a Nebraska feedlot.