The “Breed Back Better” workshop brought nearly 50 producers to the Franklin County Fairgrounds Convention Center on Thursday afternoon, focusing on reproductive efficiency, herd management and market conditions for Iowa’s cow-calf industry.
The event was hosted by Franklin County Extension and Outreach and featured educational sessions, hands-on demonstrations and a market update for producers navigating historically low cattle numbers and volatile markets.
Abby Greiman, a livestock market advisor with Ever.Ag, says that national herd numbers remain at historic lows.
“We have the fewest number of cows that we’ve had in the U.S. since I believe 1951,” Greiman said. “So we just have fewer cows out there that are in production right now. So that means fewer calves on the ground, that results in fewer calves in feed lots, and fewer pounds of beef out on the market that we’re producing here domestically.”
Greiman says tight supply conditions are driving strong prices, but also increasing financial risk and capital investment for producers rebuilding or maintaining herds.
The workshop also focused on improving reproductive performance, record keeping and benchmarking herd data.
Randie Culbertson, a cow-calf extension specialist with Iowa State University and the Iowa Beef Center, emphasized the importance of data-driven management.
“You can’t fix what you don’t know is broke,” Culbertson said. “If you are not keeping track of your records and not looking at your herd, you might be having problems in your herd and maybe losing a little bit in an area and you just don’t know because you’re not looking at those records.”
The Breed Back Better program is part of a statewide Iowa Beef Center initiative designed to help producers improve reproductive efficiency, financial planning and long-term herd sustainability.
