A livestock herd’s profitability depends on the ability of a mother animal, cows in this case, to breed up, carry a calf to term, successfully provide for the calf, and breed back up again the next year.
Long-term research at …
Now is a great time to take a look at the past year and consider what is working well in your operation.
You can also examine areas of opportunity where you might be able to reduce risk, improve production, streamline …
Hemp has potential applications in thousands of products and can now provide an option in crop rotations.
Wyoming has the advantage of having less pests adapted to hemp than other parts of the country. The environment is drier, windier, and …
Advising staff of the Wyoming Small Business Development Center (SBDC) Network have contributed articles to this publication over the past few months on agribusiness topics related to building resiliency and recovering from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
We’d now …
Many weeds have started to lose their luster, but late August through October is a great time for perennial and biennial weed control in many Wyoming locations despite the onset of seeds or leaves that don’t look quite as healthy …
Strategic business planning during the COVID‑19 pandemic can feel hard, oppressive, or even downright impossible.
This pressure is exactly why business owners must have a plan now to make informed decisions about their futures. The ag economy has always been …
Food shortages and panic at the grocery stores in response to the COVID‑19 pandemic have begun to change the way average grocery consumers think about sourcing their food.
As small ag producers know, there isn’t really a shortage of food, …
As I write this in late August, “miller” moths, or more accurately the adults of the army cutworm, are migrating back to the lower elevations after spending the summer
fattening up by feeding on alpine flower nectar.
Miller moths were …
Management of rangeland before, during, and after drought is critical.
In desperate times, producers may be tempted to get what they can out of rangeland to preserve herds. Just remember, the drought may last more than one season, and the …
We all have some level of awareness about identity theft through personal experience or the media.
Businesses are becoming an increasing target market for identity theft, with business identity theft up 100 percent in 2019 and estimated to have grown …
This year has been a “different” one for folks in Wyoming, including our cattle producers.
Live cattle prices have remained lower than usual, and the profitability window has been tight, especially for smaller operations. The value of retail beef has …
Wyoming Small Business Development Center (SBDC) Network advisers work with many business clients with cash flow and other financial management processes.
While that can be foreign to many folks, especially new businesses, agricultural businesses tend to be good at understanding …
Wyoming cattle producers John and Cindy Robb* in a previous installment looked into how Livestock Risk Protection (LRP) might work to limit at least some of the price risk in their operation.
They decided on a 21-week contract at 96 …
Last year was not kind to many Wyoming crop and livestock producers, and John and Cindy Robb’s Weston County cow-calf operation was no exception*.
Extreme winter and summer weather affected their calf numbers and weaning weights. Price declines beginning in …
Wyoming ranchers have watched livestock markets suffer as a result of COVID-19 over the last few months.
While some producers saw immediate losses due to sharply lower markets, most were not in a position to market their livestock. The impacts …