Education

Summer marketing success doesn’t happen by chance. It’s the result of intentional decisions made months in advance—decisions rooted in efficient management and a clear understanding of what today’s buyers demand. 

Raising healthy, fast-growing stocker cattle takes more than just good grass and a salt block. It takes understanding how the rumen works and how to keep it running at its best. The rumen is the largest part of a beef animal’s stomach and plays a vital role in how the animal digests fiber. When fiber digestion in ruminants improves, cattle gain weight faster, stay healthier, and make better use of every bite of feed.

The grass is greening up, and stocker calves are out grazing. Green grass sprinkled with cattle paints a pretty picture across the countryside. Spring grazing is a great way to add economical weight to the weaned calves before they enter the feedlot phase. However, grazing spring pasture doesn’t come without challenges.

Stocker cattle—typically weaned calves weighing between 400 to 700 pounds—are often grazed on spring pasture as an economical way to add weight before entering feedlots. With proper management, spring grazing can provide high-quality forage, efficient animal gains and reduced feed costs. However, successful stocker grazing in spring requires attention to forage growth, animal needs, grazing techniques and health management.

Now that you have determined the best grass for cattle grazing, you will want to maintain those pastures to your optimum. Although it would be nice if the grass could just replenish itself, that just does not happen. Part of good land stewardship is planting and maintaining new growth of grasses on a regular basis.

Some stocker operators consider themselves beef cattle raisers. Others consider themselves grass farmers. Either way, they are stewards of the land, raising beef safely and sustainably. But how do they determine the best grass for cattle? There is definitely a science and art behind it.

Winter is not always kind to the cattle producer – depending on where you live. Tanks freeze. Snow covers the forage you have for the cattle to graze. However, winter is a time for renewal and a chance for your cattle to be on pasture without the stressors of summer heat and insects.

The United States is an ideal location for stocker cattle operations, thanks to its diverse and abundant forage resources. From the cool-season grasses of the Midwest to the warm-season varieties in the South, the country's vast grazing lands provide year-round nutrition for growing cattle. This versatility in forage options allows producers to raise stocker cattle efficiently, optimizing growth rates and profitability while maintaining sustainable grazing systems.

Stocker operators and backgrounders have enough challenges to deal with in today’s industry. Potential sickness, grass shortages, environmental hardships and market fluctuations—to name a few. You shouldn’t have to worry about grass tetany during spring turnout, too.