44 NEBRASKA CATTLEMAN January 2026 1/2 page horizontal Nebraska Cattleman www.na.hd-hyundaice.com H Y U N D A I W A R R A N T Y VALUE • More Standard Features • Industry-Best Total Coverage Warranty • Hi-mate Remote Management service – FREE for 3 years • Industry-Leading Fuel Economy • Industry-Leading Cycle Times Cash is king – Make more money & spend less, with Hyundai Wheel Loaders. Industry’s Best Total Coverage Warranty: 3-year / 3,000-hour full machine warranty & 5-year / 10,000-hour structural warranty JJ Petersen 402-917-4903 Council Bluffs, IA,712-366-5221 Neligh, NE, 402-887-5638 Sioux City, IA, 712-266-3832 www.rueterco.com “Everybody wants to bring their heifers to the barn,” Sewell said. “Let them be cows. Let them be moderate size. They will be able to survive. They’ll be low input.” “Just don’t baby your cows,” Hill stated. “You know, if you want a cow to fit your system, you’ve got to treat her like she’s just going to have to live there and work for you.” Across all responses, the core message was consistent: don’t baby your cows and don’t expect them to solve every financial problem at once. Beef on Dairy and Cross-Industry Genetics Beef-on-dairy crossbreeding and full-beef embryo transfer into dairy cows generated lively discussion. Brandt observed that dairy producers tend to adopt emerging technologies faster than the beef sector. He also mentioned that full-beef embryo programs are expanding quickly. Rather than viewing the trend defensively, Brandt framed it as an opportunity for cross-industry collaboration and a way to potentially increase high-quality beef supply without competing directly for traditional range resources. Both Brandt and Biehler identified genomic testing as the most powerful emerging tool in replacement development. Once confined largely to elite seedstock operations, genomics is now being applied across commercial heifer crops. As databases grow, accuracy improves and selection pressure can be applied earlier than ever before. Custom heifer-development programs were also discussed as a way to separate cow-calf production from replacement development, freeing up grass for producing cows while centralizing data capture and selection. The Reality of Cow Longevity An audience member challenged the assumption that cows routinely deliver six, seven or eight productive calves under REBUILDING THE COW HERD CONTINUED FROM PAGE 42 CONTINUED ON PAGE 46 From Jay Parsons’ presentation, data shows no inventory indication of the cow herd being rebuilt yet.
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