Hear the honest reality of starting a direct-to-consumer beef business from Hannah Klitz, founder of Oak Barn Beef. Hannah shares how she navigates online sales, a storefront, social media marketing and growing her business in this podcast episode. Whether it is selling quarters, halves and wholes or beef bundles; Oak Barn Beef has found ways to serve a variety of customers who crave Nebraska beef directly from ranchers.

Troy and Stacy Hadrick share their journey of starting a 25-head-per-day harvesting facility in rural South Dakota. North Prairie Butchery will serve the rural community of Faulkton. This dynamic duo shares the reality of what challenges they have faced and how they've overcome them during this process.

Ryan Moorhouse, general manager at Hartley Feeders, joins the podcast to share how cattlemen can build better relationships with feedlots while offering insight as to what types of calves feedlots want. 

Beef cattle producers share their experiences navigating high input costs over the past year. These beef producers discuss how they’ve worked through fertilizer and feed costs as well as drought. There is also conversation about vertical integration and how cattle marketing will change in the future.

Dr. Clint Rusk, Ray Williams and Wes Chism join the podcast for a second time to add to last week’s conversation about the challenges faced by seedstock producers. This week the trio shares how data collection has become a fast and easy process, how to implement this technology as well as what is holding the industry back from adopting it.

This two-part series with Dr. Clint Rusk, Wes Chism and Ray Williams covers the challenges faced by seedstock and commercial cattlemen and how data collection and technology can play a role in providing solutions. 

Here's what you'll hear in Part 1:

Addressing Labor Challenges

Management Styles

What Data is Important to Collect

How Data has Changed the Beef Industry

Dr. Clint Rusk joins the show from the Charolais Association and Wes Chism and Ray Williams join us from the team at Gallagher North America. Part 2 will be focused on improving the actual data collection and analysis process as well as how that data can be integrated into breed association databases. 

Traceability systems and animal disease are important topics in the United States beef industry today. Discover why all cattle producers need to be aware of the impacts of animal disease and how they can take action on their own operations.

I've seen them done in all kinds of ways. I've had them use the circle irrigation systems subdivided into a pie shape, and the water is in the center. All the cattle have access to it, but they are closed off from other sections of the of the growth area. I mean, there's just all kinds of creative ways you can do this, and you just kind of have to use trial and error a little bit.

“I like rotational grazing systems because we give a chance for the grass to get a little rest and revive between grazing cycles. Therefore, we're not stressing the root systems of the desirable plants as much. Animals are selective grazers and they typically select for and consume desirable plants, and leave behind what they don't like. So, when we leave those unwanted plants, which are the primary weeds we have in Kentucky and I suspect across the US, those are the plants that can go through their reproductive phases, and subsequently, we get a shift towards more weedy type plants, and that kind of environment.”

Fixing fences in the spring can be quite the task for cattle producers. Here are some resources and tips to make it a more efficient process this year.

Jeremy McGill joins the podcast to share his experiences with both permanent and temporary watering systems for grazing strategies. Jeremy discusses tank location, maintenance and how to fence off natural waterways for cattle and wildlife in this podcast episode.

Matt Woolfolk and Wes Chism dive into the topic of bull sale season and share advice for both commercial cattlemen and seedstock producers. This episode covers what to look for in bulls, bull budgeting and developing a relationship with your seedstock supplier for those buying bulls. It also covers customer service, what types of bulls people want and sale day meals for producers who are selling bulls.

Jamie Hauge joins the show to discuss his family's experience with the H-2A program. They have been using the program for about 17 years to source seasonal labor on their diversified operation. Jamie discusses why the program works better for their farming enterprise as opposed to their cow-calf enterprise, what changes he'd like to see made with the program and his advice for those just getting started with the program.

Ray Williams with Gallagher North America joins the show to discuss the big-picture view of sustainability and what it means for family farms and ranches today. Ray covers what he is gaining from producer conversations at NCBA convention in New Orleans, the 3 segments of sustainability and why cattle producers need to do their part to prevent misinformation in the beef industry.

Kacy Atkinson joins the show to share her family's story of losing her brother and what they learned about why estate plans are critical components to the business structure of farms and ranches. Kacy uses her previous experience from her days in extension combined with her personal experiences to provide cattle producers insight on how to get started with this process and what it means for their cattle operations.

Chelsea Woodcock, DVM and Wes Chism discuss what cattle producers need to keep in mind to ensure optimum herd health during their spring calving season. This episode covers the topics of when to vaccinate calves, the Sandhills calving method, what supplies to have on hand and what records are critical to track during calving season. 

Technology is changing how cattle producers manage and improve their herds day in and day out. Alex Heine and Keenan Hawekotte join the show from the Cattle ID team to discuss how technology helps cattle producers and what ranchers need to know about adopting these tools on their operations.

Cattle producers can discover how to manage added snow pressure through fence design as well as discover techniques and creative methods for overcoming winter’s challenges when it comes to fencing.

Calving seasons for beef producers vary throughout the United States depending on the climate. However, you may be missing out on an opportunity to improve your profitability by having longer calving seasons and keeping late-bred cows as opposed to marketing them. Jordan Thomas joins the show to discuss his experiences helping cattle producers in Missouri create managed reproduction programs and improve their bottom line through reproductive technologies. 

Eliminate chopping ice and worrying about open water tanks in the winter by learning from this year and implementing these strategies next year.