Beef

The focus at TWG Ranch is to raise reproductive, maternal cattle with longevity and product merit.

Mother’s Day is quickly approaching on May 11, and this year the Illinois Beef Association aims to give mothers from beef cattle operations special recognition.

Free trade dogma suggests that more imports benefit consumers by affording them more choices and lower prices. Let’s see if this holds true in the U.S. beef market.

March went in — and out — like a lion. Several state contests take place in spring, such as the recent dairy cattle and food science career development events, with many more on the calendar.

On my family’s farm, we achieve Earth Day objectives throughout the year, guided by respect for the blessings natural resources provide. We must conserve and protect natural resources to grow food and sustain our farm for future generations.

The Western Illinois University School of Agriculture hosted its 53rd annual Bull Test Sale at the WIU Livestock Center.

The animals are smelling green grass and are tired of eating their winter vittles. The rye looks great, but the cool temps have slowed its growth enough that I have decided to delay the usual turnout a few days.

Some of the highlights I came away with from the Illinois Grazing Lands Coalition’s 2025 Grazing Conference are: soil microbes help the water percolate through the soil and cover crops help feed the soil microbes which make them multiply.

Meet Mindy Orschell, AgriNews’ new From the Fields contributor in southern Indiana.

Twenty-five Illinois Farm Bureau members recently graduated from the Agricultural Leaders of Tomorrow, an extensive leadership development program designed to help participants develop leadership and advocacy skills and to become a voice for Illinois agriculture.

R-CALF USA is aggressively pursuing tariffs for cattle, sheep, beef and lamb. And it seems we’re the only national livestock association that is doing so.

Cow size has been on the rise for decades. Cows today weigh 1.4 times as much as their predecessors in 1980. In fact, cow weight is rising 100 pounds every 10 years.

Grass will be ready for turnout soon. It is hard to hold out, but so important to give grass a fair start.

The futures market is reacting as expected with all this tariff news creating plenty of uncertainty which usually trends lower as most players look to eliminate risk.

We have faced several consecutive days over a six-state area where there have been multiple tornados causing damage, a lot of rain, lightning, hail and serious flooding and washouts of roads and bridges.

Plant-based and lab-grown protein products enjoyed a moment in the sun several years ago, but it didn’t take long for the free market to kick in and push these companies down a very steep decline.

American Farmland Trust focuses on protecting farmland, keeping farmers on the land and promoting sound farming practices.

Agricultural economic conditions remained relatively weak across the Corn Belt, driven by concerns over drought conditions, trade, balance sheets and the lack of farm bill clarity.

The Illinois Grazing Lands Coalition announced the recipients of the 2025 Master Grazier Awards at the ILGLC Annual Grazing Conference in Springfield.

Tight supplies of cattle and resilient demand for beef are expected to support fed steer prices this year, according to projections at the Agricultural Outlook Forum.

Indiana’s agriculture organizations teamed up to bring the farm to Indianapolis on National Agriculture Day.

In the seven weeks that global markets and U.S. farmers have been living in the uncertain trade world of the Trump administration, prices for most American ag exports have headed south faster than a Canada goose in late October.

I saw robins, snow geese and green grass all in the same frame last week — it must be spring!

In reviewing my February writing, I realize that quite a few things actually were finished or at least started in the last month — I am pleased to report that!

As March hit, we finally got some relief on the weather and had some nice days that first week. February stayed ugly until the end and muddy, muddy, muddy.

Along with cattle sales, junior activities and shows, the Illinois Beef Expo included a trade show where numerous companies provided information to cattlemen at the Illinois State Fairgrounds.

At a very young age, sisters Claire and Jemma Dorsey started showing cattle, which has developed into a passion and award-winning endeavor.

Save the date for Ag Day at the St. Joseph County 4-H Fairgrounds, in the Commercial Building, April 4-6.

R-CALF USA welcomes the 25% tariffs on Canadian and Mexican beef and cattle — and we want more.

Members of Illinois Agri-Women gathered for their annual meeting to elect new officers, conduct association business and learn about several Illinois agricultural organizations.

Strong tradition leads to strong results at the Illinois Performance Tested Bull Sale at the Illinois State Fairgrounds.

Raising cattle is both demanding and fulfilling. Each day offers new possibilities for producers to improve their herd and work toward greater profitability.

President Donald Trump temporarily suspended across-the-board 25% tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada until April 2.

It is a new day for agriculture, said Ag Secretary Brooke Rollins.

A visit to Washington provided a powerful glimpse into the challenges and triumphs of local farmers as they navigate unpredictable weather and global market conditions.

So far, this winter has been pretty friendly to the winter chores. We might be concerned about the lack of moisture for next spring’s crops, but right now dry is good.

Resource availability has a significant impact on optimizing genetics that fit into an environment to make a perfect cow.

Lawmakers and farmers mingled at the Indiana Statehouse to enjoy a bacon brunch and discuss farm policies.

The long-term downward spiral in the number of U.S. cattle farms and ranches informs us that our industry is in a severe crisis.

Cattle numbers are down in the United States and the cattle market is focused on providing incentives to cattlemen for herd rebuilding.

Cattlemen have several options to control brush or woody plants in pastures.

The CattleFax Outlook Seminar, held as part of CattleCon 2025 in San Antonio, shared expert market and weather analysis.

The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association’s Executive Committee approved the organization’s policy priorities at CattleCon 2025.

Tariffs will not curtail imports, but they will help to rebalance trade by leveling the economic playing field between domestic cattle producers and producers from countries who enjoy less stringent production standards and lower currency valuations.

Longer, more diverse rotations of crops fertilized with livestock manure have many environmental benefits, but carbon sequestration isn’t one of them, according to a new study led by Iowa State University researchers.

After a four-year run of substantial gains, agricultural land values in the Seventh Federal Reserve District saw a 1% annual decrease.

Here we go again. Because of the avian influenza, many hens have had to be culled, leaving fewer to produce eggs. Supply and demand being what it is, the price of eggs has jumped up again because there are fewer eggs.

Zoe Kent hopes people get a little joy out of her talking about farming on the Internet. In one of her latest videos, she compares pesticide application to dry shampoo. “Farming is for the girls,” she quips.

We shipped two loads of fat cattle this past week and will ship another this week. Two of these loads were sold cash, and for the first time ever, we sold cattle for more than $200 per hundredweight.

We have completed the shop renovation project we started a year ago and got the heaters installed. This overdue improvement is a game changer.