Forest Service offers drought warnings, and solutions, for rangeland
The U.S. Forest Service released a new report on Monday, detailing the effects of drought on forests and rangelands.
In second year, cattle herd expansion gathers speed
Cattle ranchers and feeders expanded their herds 3 percent in the past year, to 92 million head at the start of January, and cattle numbers, which generally declined since 1996, are up for the second year in a row, says the semi-annual Cattle inventory report.
Greenhorns and old hands in buffalo roundup
Antelope Island, off the eastern shore of the Great Salt Lake, with Salt Lake City on the horizon, offers a rare opportunity for cowhands to herd wild bison, reports the New York Times. Participants are a mix of weathered ranchers and urbanites (who herd paperwork most of the year) who "spend a day on horseback chasing hundreds of bison toward corrals" in an annual roundup on a state park.
More signs that producers are rebuilding cattle herds
Ranchers and feeders are sending fewer beef heifers to slaughter, "likely a result of producers retaining some extra heifers for breeding purposes," said the USDA's Livestock, Dairy and Poultry Outlook report, citing "further signs of cow-herd rebuilding."