The AgSpire Edge:
Ranching Resilience Workshop
Featuring presentations on market dynamics, forage production, and herd efficiency, the event offers research-backed information for cattle producers to grow their herd or improve productivity. Plus, gain insight from the AgSpire team into the incentive programs we offer to help implement those changes.
To access the recordings, simply fill out the form below. Once submitted, you’ll receive instructions on how to watch.
Event Photos
It is good to see that companies are wanting to endorse beef production and not just say they don’t think it is good for the environment.
M. Mendel, Event AttendeeEvent Recap
Experts Say Ranching Resilience Relies on Maximizing Grazing & Herd Efficiencies
by Lura Roti
There are three things the most profitable cattle producers do:
- Wean the highest percentage of exposed cows
- Wean the heaviest calves
- Never skimp on bulls
This data was collected from CattleFax surveys of nearly 20,000 cattle producers. And it was shared with South Dakota cattle producers by Mike Miller the Chief Operating Officer of CattleFax, the world’s leading beef industry research and analysis firm during the Ranching Resilience workshop hosted in Huron, S.D., by AgSpire this February.
“And for those of us who have room to graze or grow cattle, there is money in that segment of the industry each and every year,” Miller said.
In addition to sharing the survey findings, Miller presented an in-depth market outlook.
Miller’s message resonated with Greg Hofer, a fourth-generation Hitchcock cattle producer. “You are never too old to learn something new. That’s why we attend these workshops, to bring new ideas home to our operation,” said Hofer, 65, who attended the workshop with his son, Dwight.
New information matters to Hofer because of the next generation. He and his wife, Lisa, raise crops and cattle with his dad, Eldon, their sons, Ethan and Dwight, and their grandchildren.
“There have always been four generations on this farm since I was born,” Hofer said. “We are not a large operation, but we are large enough for everyone to be involved if they want to be.”
Cattle operations like the Hofer’s are the reason AgSpire invited nationally renowned experts to Huron, explained Jared Knock, a cattle producer and AgSpire’s Vice President of Agriculture Innovation.
“With this workshop we wanted to bring some of the best experts in the country to provide cattle producers with long-term forecasting on the state of the beef industry and provide them with research-based advice on how to increase their operation’s resiliency moving forward,” Knock said.
To provide cattle producers with research-based information to maximize resilience through herd efficiencies, grazing and ultimately profits, Miller was joined by Cliff Lamb, reproductive physiologist and Texas A&M director of AgriLife Research and Justin Fruechte, ag product expert for Renovo Seed.
Improved herd efficiencies help produce more food on less land
Increasing production efficiencies to produce more products and profit on less land is an overarching focus for Lamb in his role with AgriLife Research.
“We focus on sustainable production systems. And it’s not just environmental, its economic …because you cannot have a sustainable system if you don’t have economic viability,” Lamb said.
When it comes to increasing herd efficiency, Lamb said of all the genetic traits cattle producers select for, research shows pregnancy has the greatest impact on profits – four times the impact of any other production trait.
“Pregnancy is the number one trait beef producers should be thinking about,” Lamb said.
Lamb shared additional research that showed heifers that get pregnant in the first 21 days of the breeding season maintain their fertility longer – producing the equivalent of three quarters of a calf more in their lifetime than heifers that became pregnant the second half of a 42-day breeding season.
Additional recommendations Lamb shared based on research trials were:
- Reduce breeding season to about 62 days
- Implement synchronization and AI to help reduce the length of breeding season
- Reduce heat stress during breeding season
In addition to breeding season efficiencies, Lamb also discussed research-based technologies and genomic testing to improve feed efficiencies.
Financial incentives & market premiums available to sustainability-focused producers
Herd efficiency not only matters to researchers and producers, but it also matters to major beef purchasers like McDonalds. And they are willing to offer incentives to cattle producers working to improve efficiencies, explained veterinarian Kristina Porter, AgSpire’s herd management technical advisor.
“McDonalds is interested in having a strong, robust beef supply domestically. That’s in their best interest. That’s in your best interest. So, they have some money set aside because they believe in what you are doing,” said Porter, referencing the Ranching for the Future program.
Ranching for the Future is one of several sustainability-focused incentive programs cattle and crop producers can sign up for through AgSpire.
AgSpire was founded in South Dakota in 2021. It is a national company that provides technical expertise, educational resources, and access to practical incentive programs to help producers succeed with regenerative and conservation practices.
Healing the Land for Better Forage
“It is good to see that companies are wanting to endorse beef production and not just say they don’t think it is good for the environment,” said Michael Mendel, a fourth-generation cattle producer who manages his family’s cow/calf herd near Carpenter, S.D.
Because he implements rotational grazing, Mendel had a particular alkali patch in mind when he listened to Fruechte’s forage and grazing presentation.
“I am always looking for areas that are not making money farming, that we can plant to grass for grazing,” Mendel said.