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Opinion: Beef breeding must aim for profitability

I was reading a blog post by Doug Ferguson of Beef Magazine recently when I stumbled upon a statement that will likely offend some friends of mine.

Ferguson wrote, “seed stock are cattle the industry needs; registered cattle chase the fads and show banners.”

This brings me to my question: are you investing in a seed stock operation and adding value to the cattle industry? Or are you investing in a registered cattle operation? We often get wrapped up in the fads created and desired in the show ring, but we are hurting the overall well-being of the industry by continuing to breed traits that either have no added benefit to our businesses’ annual profit or severely hinder that profit — not to mention if profit is even present in the business.

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Preparing for Lambing Season | Handling Pregnant Ewes Safely

Video: Preparing for Lambing Season | Handling Pregnant Ewes Safely

Handling pregnant ewes safely is the highlight of today's sheep farming vlog at Ewetopia Farms as we do final preparations for lambing season. With lambing season only days away, today’s focus is transforming our breeding barn into a lambing barn. This means cleaning out the last of the barns, removing old bedding, and laying fresh straw for our pregnant ewes. A big part of the process is safely moving our Suffolk and Dorset sheep to transform their breeding pens into their pens for lambing.