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October. It's right around the corner. This is the time of year that most of you will sell your spring calves. Between now and then, most cow/calf producers will pray for rain and complain about the market. As we all know, in an election year either the Republicans or the Democrats are the reason for the drought.

I am disturbed by the number of people in this country who seem to take agriculture for granted. Many have had little to no experience with the land and only know what they read and hear from what are often unreliable sources.

In order to adequately serve the needs of land managers in our service area, we must constantly evaluate our services, the needs of land managers, services provided by others and the factors that impact land managers. We are already speculating about what the next agricultural census data will show and how we may need to respond.

The stock market is not the only investment that has fallen in value during 2008 - the agricultural commodities markets have, too. Many agricultural producers across the United States are feeling the pinch from falling commodity prices. Because of the current downturn in these markets, it has become more important than ever for agricultural producers to manage their price risks.

When economic times necessitate "tightening of the purse strings," so to speak, too often livestock producers cut back severely on pasture management and associated expenses. This often leads to the...

Developing a proper stocking rate is among the most important practices a manager can accomplish. No fertilization plan, brush management plan, rotational grazing plan or herd genetic selection can...

The past few years have seen a dramatic downturn in calf prices from historic highs to the lowest prices in four or five years. Unfortunately, some input prices are slow to come down while other...