Let’s not forget what we already know!

Well, there’s a lot of news right now about the volatility in the cattle markets. Obviously a lot of it is uncomfortable) to read or listen to, and it makes for real spirited or depressing conversation at the corner café (pick your emotion). Still, it’s always best to keep a positive frame of mind and be looking at opportunities. The last time calves sold for $2.00, people were pretty doggone happy about it. Now, I’m not trying to say that we should be happy with a cattle market that’s lost $50/Cwt in a very short period of time but I am saying that the cow-calf business is still alive and well. 

One bright spot is that for much of the country, we have grass, we have hay, and feed cost are relatively low compared to where they were a couple years ago when the calf price was about the same as it is today – there’s the glass is half full statement for the coffee shop. I’ve been at a lot of producer meetings the past few weeks and I’ve not heard a lot of negativity overall. Ranchers are still engaged, wanting to learn how to better feed, care for, market and breed their cattle. If you are not improving, you are not moving ahead. I’m pleased to sense this philosophy in the areas I’ve been, and it tells me we will not or should not fall backwards on nutritional strides made in the past few years. At CRYSTALYX^®, we will strive at continuous improvement of our products and programs, that’s what our customers expect. We’ve had a lot of success with our newest and most performance driven products in the past few years such as our Breed-Up^® products, Brigade^®, Iono-lyx^®, Omega-lyx™ and others.

Don't Skimp on Nutrition!

There’s really no time to “skimp” on nutrition in any operation, especially at critical times like weaning, calving and breeding. We’ve talked a lot about using nutrition to enhance reproductive performance and the return involved. If we were to cut back due to fear in the market, what would that cost potentially be?  Just think, if we lost 1% in reproductive efficiency or had one less calf to wean, the value of that calf is still going to be well over $1000.00. This is more than 30 times the amount it cost to feed a cow CRYSTALYX^® for 100 days.  The cost of “skimping” is a lot more than the cost of good nutrition and health.

I believe our industry is pretty savvy and it’s safe to say we still have a lot to look forward to in this business.  Let’s keep striving to only get better