Rural scenes in Burleson and Washington counties on April 7, 2021. (Laura McKenzie/Texas A&M AgriLife Marketing and Communications)
Ranchers face many risks associated with cattle marketing as we have seen last year with the pandemic. Any good marketing plan requires the knowledge of the available tools in the market that we can used. Each of these tools have their own advantages and disadvantages, and it is important to know them as well as their impact in our operation before making any decision. Today, in his first article as a new author for the Amarillo AgEcon Blog, Pancho Abello, AgriLife Extension Economist for District 3, reviews the Livestock Risk Protection Program.
We are approaching the end of graze-out season for stocker calves on winter wheat. What are your options? What kind of price can you expect for feeder calves at the sale barn? Is there any profit in retaining ownership in 2021? 
What is the value of supplemental feeding? Should I feed hay? How much? What is the financial gain or loss? With the drought worsening across Texas and the western U.S. it is vital to find the most cost effective supplemental feeding strategy available. 
In July 2020, the National Cattleman’s Beef Association (NCBA) announced support for a voluntary framework to “increase frequent and transparent negotiated trade to regionally sufficient level” to achieve robust price discovery. A set of “triggers” evaluated on a quarterly basis form the framework. Today is the second in a two-part post on the results of Q1. How did each region perform during Q1? What are the takeaways from these outcomes?
March 15 is the deadline for many crop insurance decisions. That means the time has come for producers of grazed wheat to make the decision; will gain or grain be the more profitable enterprise in 2021?
The application deadline for the Livestock Forage Program (LFP) is coming at the end of this week. Today I revisit a post from the fall on how LFP works. I’ve also included updated versions of USDA’s county maps for eligible payment months by forage crop. 
It’s that time of year again. We’ve updated the District 1 AgriLife budgets to incorporate 2021 crop year projections. Take a look at some of the changes we can expect in the coming year.