The road to the summit

Dealing With $4 Diesel

Market, don't sell

Whole Foods To Buy Beef Despite Conflict

Make Preventing Fuel Theft A Priority

Does The Death Tax Need A Repeal Or An Overhaul?

Repeal of the estate tax, or death tax, as it's often termed by its detractors, has long been championed by ag commodity and small-business groups...

Is life insurance really necessary?

By Burt Rutherford Senior Editor

You can look at life insurance as an estate management tool, or as a take-it-or-leave-it kind of proposition. And most estate-planning experts would just...

Optimal production/marketing system

by Harlan Hughes contributing editor

Part III in a series on the changing corn environment. We all understand that different ranch production/marketing systems lead to different financial...

The changing corn environment

by Harlan Hughes contributing editor

Part II: Short-term management implications The bottom line to the changing corn environment is that feedlot costs of gain (COG) will increase substantially...

Where will it end?

By Mike Fritz

Private grazing rates across the Western U.S. climbed more than 5% for the 12 months through January to $14.50/animal unit month (AUM). That’s up from last year’s 4.5% pace, according to the latest USDA January Cattle Survey. Yet, given the developing profit squeeze caused by steeply rising feed prices and other production costs, market participants say lease rates will eventually have to retreat...

Pasture Cools

By Mike Fritz

Robust demand for recreational tracts, strong livestock profits and high grain prices continue to fuel the strong bull run in the pasture and rangeland...

Corn Hits $7; Ethanol Apologists Grow More Shrill

Troy Marshall

The corn market trended higher this week with December corn flirting with the $7/bu. level this week. In addition, USDA lowered its expected yield by 5 bu./acre to 148.9...

Grandma Had Good Advice For Political Strategists

by Troy Marshall

One of my grandmother’s favorite admonishments to me and my brother was that “criticizing another’s garden doesn’t keep weeds out of your own.” My favorite ...