For most cattle producers, fall marks a time for bringing the cowherd home from summer grasses, weaning calves and of course, more chores. Fall is also a time to start thinking about preparing for winter months.

As winter’s icy grip makes its way across the nation, cattlemen are working to winterize their operations. This means taking inventory of available forage, conducting a nutritional analysis on that forage, giving vaccinations to calves, cows and bulls, conducting pregnancy examinations to the cowherd, deworming and controlling parasites, marketing the cull cows, and anticipating adverse weather conditions.

If this list isn’t long enough, 2008 brings an extra set of worries with the nation’s financial credit crisis. Whispers around the prairie are turning into panicked shouts. Will I be able to survive the winter financially? Will my operating loan be renewed? Is this my last year in the livestock industry?

For most cattle producers, fall marks a time for bringing the cowherd home from summer grasses, weaning calves and of course, more chores. Fall is also a time to start thinking about preparing for winter months.

As winter’s icy grip makes its way across the nation, cattlemen are working to winterize their operations. This means taking inventory of available forage, conducting a nutritional analysis on that forage, giving vaccinations to calves, cows and bulls, conducting pregnancy examinations to the cowherd, deworming and controlling parasites, marketing the cull cows, and anticipating adverse weather conditions.

If this list isn’t long enough, 2008 brings an extra set of worries with the nation’s financial credit crisis. Whispers around the prairie are turning into panicked shouts. Will I be able to survive the winter financially? Will my operating loan be renewed? Is this my last year in the livestock industry?

For most cattle producers, fall marks a time for bringing the cowherd home from summer grasses, weaning calves and of course, more chores. Fall is also a time to start thinking about preparing for winter months.

As winter’s icy grip makes its way across the nation, cattlemen are working to winterize their operations. This means taking inventory of available forage, conducting a nutritional analysis on that forage, giving vaccinations to calves, cows and bulls, conducting pregnancy examinations to the cowherd, deworming and controlling parasites, marketing the cull cows, and anticipating adverse weather conditions.

If this list isn’t long enough, 2008 brings an extra set of worries with the nation’s financial credit crisis. Whispers around the prairie are turning into panicked shouts. Will I be able to survive the winter financially? Will my operating loan be renewed? Is this my last year in the livestock industry?