The deck is not stacked, but the cow/calf producer does hold a good hand. As producers, we have a choice when to call the hand and turn the reins over to the next segment of the industry.

Based on the average price, the most valued cut was 25 pounds of ribeye roll at $126.79. However, the range of reported values was a low of $118.81 to a high of $143.77. The second greatest value was 46 pounds of boneless chuck roll that brought $84.37. The range in reported values was a low of $76.

Dickinson State University offers a course in solving cow/calf management problems. Students are challenged to review their own and cooperating North Dakota Beef Cattle Improvement Association producer herds and develop improvement plans in each herd..

Cattle are built to take most weather in strideas long as they stay in their region of origin and the weather stays normal. Northern cattle with winter hair coats are comfortable with temperatures down to 20 Fahrenheit (F), unless they get wet and the wind blows.

A discussion was initiated as to where one should look to find out why the value that the producer receives for beef seems to be questioned. It goes without much discussion that this topic is complicated and difficult.

There is a time to set aside the business of life and simply do. Even the best-run business, cattle or otherwise, cannot deny that, in the end, someone else is in control, regardless of who we are, and really does not ask for input.

The fall of the year is the time to make herd evaluations and managerial and nutritional improvements without fighting the weather. The key to understanding the overall performance of a herd is

If one has ever dismantled an old home, lifting the floorboards can be quite interesting. Perhaps it is as simple as an old coin that rolled between the boards or a long-held stash of papers put there as a place to reside and eventually were boarded over.

Fairness and other market positioning often are expressed as frustration or confrontation rather than organized planning. The outcome of the conversations is varied. However, the general summation usually leaves things as they are, a little frustrated, but willing to go.

At one time, a tag and scale were all the tools needed to start a beef cattle production record system. The tag was placed at birth and the mother and birth date were recorded in the free notebook from the local livestock business.