Cattle Conversations

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301

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Oct 2026

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About the show

Cattle Conversations is the podcast for beef cattle producers and ranchers to explore new ideas and hear stories that will help them improve their current operations and lifestyles. Shaye Wanner connects listeners with other cattle producers and beef industry experts to uncover which management practices, industry trends, current events and inspiring stories are impacting today’s beef cattle industry.

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October 12, 2026Episode 4125 min

A Montana Rancher's Vence Story

This week on the Cattle Conversations Podcast, Shaye Wanner interviews fifth-generation North Central Montana rancher, Tyrel Obrecht, about using Vence’s virtual fence system on their replacement yearling heifers (mid-May to mid-September) for the past three years. Tyrel explains choosing heifers over the main cow herd due to cost and better water development on deeded ground, and securing initial cost share through World Wildlife Fund’s RSVP program to install towers and trial the collars. He demonstrates the software for drawing fences, training cattle near barbed wire before moving to invisible lines, and using heat maps to evaluate grazing patterns around water and minerals. Benefits include tighter grazing control in prairie potholes and creek pastures, freeing BLM pastures, supporting conception rates, and better rest distribution; challenges included early collar retention issues fixed by improved attachments and occasional updates/weather-related breaches. Learn more about Vence here: https://bit.ly/4kfWrCG Catch more conversations like this one and learn more at https://www.casualcattleconversations.com/ 01:11 Meet Tyrel Obrecht 01:27 Ranch Background Setup 03:05 Why Try Vence 04:09 Starting With Heifers 05:44 Cost Share Funding 07:50 Benefits In Grazing 09:06 Software Fence Drawing 11:22 Training The Cattle 14:01 Moves Updates Reality 17:25 Heat Maps Insights 19:02 Nutrition Planning Data 20:45 Challenges Collar Retention 22:27 Is Vence Worth It?

October 5, 2026Episode 4022 min

How Local Feedlots Serve Ranchers

Today on the Casual Cattle Conversations podcast, Shaye Wanner talks with Connor and Jacob of Dakota Prairie Beef in southwestern North Dakota about building a custom feeding operation focused on serving local producers, especially through replacement heifer development and backgrounding. They describe their backgrounds, two-location setup, and how they support breeding prep while producers provide AI technicians. Key challenges they talk about include sourcing affordable, quality feed, especially in dry years, and managing cash flow during seasonal slow periods. They explain how equipment upgrades and the Performance Beef software improve feeding efficiency, remote management, billing transparency, and employee usability. Performance Beef also enables individual-animal traceability via EID scanning, treatment records, and weight/ADG tracking so producers can receive detailed data on their cattle. They emphasize consistent service, communication, facility improvements to reduce stress, and being a stable, long-term partner rather than maximizing short-term profit. Learn more about Performance Livestock Analytics here: https://bit.ly/47PxY3W Catch more conversations like this one and learn more at https://www.casualcattleconversations.com/ 00:00 Feedlot Data Made Simple 01:09 Meet Dakota Prairie Beef 02:36 Connor and Jacob Backgrounds 03:48 Heifer Development Focus 06:19 Challenges Feed and Cashflow 08:28 Tools Performance Beef Setup 10:02 Animal Health and Traceability 13:49 Billing Transparency and Staff Use 16:23 Future Goals Efficiency Upgrades 19:26 What Ranchers Should Know

September 28, 2026Episode 3922 min

Increase Cattle Exposure on Sale Day with AtTheYards

This week, Shaye welcomes back Jacob Sebade, founder of AtTheYards and part of a 6,000-head family feedyard in Emerson, Nebraska, and Jim Akers, COO of the Bluegrass Livestock Marketing Network in Kentucky, about maximizing cattle exposure through better pre-sale information. They explain how the AtTheYards app helps sale barns collect standardized consignment details, videos, documents, and health/genetic info and publish upcoming lots so buyers can find cattle, filter by criteria, contact the right barn representative, and connect with order buyers. Jim uses the app across seven barns to enter cattle in the field via smartphones, generate clean standardized sale sheets, and notify buyers earlier, including Sunday arrivals. The app offers buyer accounts, watchlists, and email alerts. They discuss value-driving questions such as weaning length (often 60+ days), open heifer guarantees, specific vaccine protocols, implants, and nutrition. This conversation shows that AtTheYards isn’t just for marketing feeder cattle. It also serves seedstock producers and the Cattleman’s Corner feature provides easy to analyze graphs about market prices, packer leverage and the market wire. This new business model is exciting for sectors of the beef industry. It is available today at app.AtTheYards.com or in the App Store and Google Play. Catch more conversations like this one and learn more at https://www.casualcattleconversations.com/ 00:14 Meet Jacob And Jim 01:30 Why Exposure Matters 02:37 Standardizing Cattle Info 05:44 How AtTheYard Works 08:37 Dashboard And Rollout 10:11 Deadlines And Intake 11:36 Buyer Features And Alerts 13:13 Download And Data Quality 15:05 What Buyers Value Most

September 21, 2026Episode 3825 min

Choosing to Ranch Differently: Holistic Grazing and Cattle Management

This week, Shaye Wanner interviews Shane Maddock of Mattock Ranches about holistic/regenerative management, shaped by his father’s practices since 1992. Shane describes their North Dakota commercial cow-calf operation with backgrounding, yearlings, heifer development, and some row crops and small grains near Maddock. He explains rebuilding degraded soils by reducing reliance on outside inputs through frequent moves, adequate rest and full grass recovery, and adaptive grazing based on pasture conditions. Shane shares unconventional infrastructure like permanent fencing and water tanks placed in the middle of cropland to enable winter grazing, bale grazing, and flexible feeding. After initially seeding diverse cover crops, he shifted to perennials and now plans a sod-based crop rotation with renewed cover cropping. He is composting feedlot manure and experimenting with compost tea to boost soil biology. Key challenges include labor, infrastructure setup, and profitability, and he urges ranchers to question tradition and find mentors. Learn more about Performance Livestock Analytics here: https://bit.ly/47PxY3W Learn more about Ambrook here: ambrook.com/casualcattle Learn more about Elanco here: https://farmanimal.elanco.com/us/beef Learn more about Corteva here: RangeAndPasture.com/CattleConversations 00:47 Meet Shane Maddock 01:22 Why Regenerative Matters 02:28 Operation Overview 04:10 Growing Up Holistic 05:21 Grazing Principles Basics 06:25 Cover Crops to Perennials 08:02 Neighbors Think You're Crazy 09:05 Adaptive Grazing Decisions 10:30 Rest and Recovery Cues 11:07 Water Tanks in Cropland 13:58 Winter Grazing Setup 15:04 Virtual Fencing Curiosity 16:18 Compost and Tea Trials 19:00 Learning Resources and Soil 21:06 Challenges and Profitability

September 14, 2026Episode 3719 min

Warning: Take These Cybersecurity Precautions This Fall

This week, Shaye welcomes back Chris Sherman, CEO of Tech Support Farm, to discuss fall cybersecurity and fraud threats facing farms and ranches. Sherman highlights RFID tag swapping in cattle sales, emphasizing vigilance and real-time verification to prevent animals being sold at incorrect values. He also warns that busy seasons increase bank fraud and vendor-payment scams, advising producers to verify payment changes and urgent requests by phone, watch for spoofed emails, and use simple email folder rules to flag fake invoices. If a bad link is clicked or money is sent, he recommends contacting a cybersecurity provider, reporting significant losses via the FBI’s IC3, and carrying cyber insurance. He notes commercial accounts often have only 24 hours to dispute fraudulent transactions and suggests tools like Positive Pay, along with MFA/2FA, strong passwords, and paid domain email for better protection. You can learn more about what Chris offers at https://techsupport.farm/. Learn more about Performance Livestock Analytics here: https://bit.ly/47PxY3W Learn more about Ambrook here: ambrook.com/casualcattle Learn more about Elanco here: https://farmanimal.elanco.com/us/beef Learn more about Corteva here: RangeAndPasture.com/CattleConversations 00:00 Risk Meets Cybersecurity 01:14 Meet Chris Sherman 02:37 Fall Threats Overview 04:03 RFID Tag Swapping 06:00 Busy Season Bank Fraud 08:22 If You Clicked Or Paid 12:27 Ponzi Schemes Due Diligence 14:15 Harvest Season Digital Hygiene 15:52 Passwords And Paid Email 16:25 Year End Vigilance Wrap Up

September 7, 2026Episode 3623 min

Fall Weed Control Strategies for Grazing and Hay Acres

Today on the Casual Cattle Conversations podcast, Shaye interviews Corteva pasture specialist, Rachel Walker, about prioritizing fall weed control to maximize usable forage and extend grazing days. Walker explains that winter-emerging weeds like plantain, thistles, and poison hemlock should be treated in fall when young, using options such as DuraCor and UltiGraze. She describes DuraCor’s two-actives approach and notes grazing is allowed, with hay sales restrictions depending on state. They discuss why weed control matters in drought and for preventing livestock losses to toxic plants, and how improved control can reduce hay feeding and enable adding diverse grasses and clover. Walker recommends frequent soil testing and taking advantage of free forage testing, and adds fall brush control timing guidance. Learn more about Corteva solutions here: RangeAndPasture.com/CattleConversations Catch more conversations like this one and learn more at https://www.casualcattleconversations.com/ 00:00 Fall Weed Control Urgency 01:10 Meet Rachel Walker 02:43 Drought and Hay Outlook 04:07 Grazing Longer Into Winter 06:19 Targeting Winter Weeds 10:21 Why Weed Control Matters 14:09 UltiGraze and Soil Testing 16:39 Forage Testing and Nutrition 18:23 Clover Integration With NovaGraze 20:16 Brush Control Timing

September 4, 2026Episode 3545 min

Fall Calving and Herd Health

This week, Shaye interviews Dr. Robin Faulkner, a veterinarian with decades of beef industry experience, about fall calving systems and herd health. Faulkner outlines why fall calving can add value by spreading calf supply to better match year-round packing capacity and by producing more mature fall-born bulls, while noting location-specific challenges. He emphasizes aligning calving with weather “thermal neutral” windows to reduce stress, disease risk, and negative fetal programming, and highlights nutrition as the key constraint for rebreeding when forage quality declines into winter. He advocates proactive, season-ahead management: forage testing, equipment readiness, calving kits, and facility preparation. On vaccines, he stresses tailoring protocols to handling and marketing constraints, using vaccination and weaning to improve marketability, and timing products to their effective protection windows, including pre-calving scour vaccines for colostrum immunity. He discusses fall fly pressure and timing fly control to vulnerability periods, and urges responsible treatment and stewardship of insecticides, dewormers, and antibiotics to preserve efficacy. Learn more at https://farmanimal.elanco.com/us/beef Learn more about Noble here: https://bit.ly/3DD7uG0 Learn more about Vence here: https://bit.ly/4kfWrCG Catch more conversations like this one and learn more at https://www.casualcattleconversations.com/ 00:00 Fall Calving Kickoff 01:18 Meet Dr. Faulkner 03:15 Why Calve in Fall 06:06 Weather Stress Window 09:50 Nutrition and Rebreeding 12:44 Pre Calving Prep 17:35 Vaccines for Value 23:20 Vaccine Timing Matters 29:42 Fly Control Strategy 32:46 Treatment Stewardship 42:45 Observe and Adapt

August 24, 2026Episode 3428 min

BRD Prevention and Treatement for Ranchers and Feeders

Today on the Casual Cattle Conversations podcast, Shaye talks with veterinarian Dr. Paige Schmidt-Rios about bovine respiratory disease (BRD), its impact across the cattle supply chain, and key prevention strategies for ranchers. Dr. Paige explains BRD (also called pneumonia or shipping fever) as a complex syndrome involving multiple viruses and bacteria, often triggered when stress and environment compromise immunity; she lists common pathogens and notes BRD is a major cause of post-weaning illness. They discuss treatment limits, including supportive care for viral cases and five antibiotic classes for bacterial pneumonia, highlighting mycoplasma’s lack of a cell wall and fluoroquinolone restrictions, plus the role and timing of diagnostics and the need for a VCPR. Prevention focuses on colostrum within 12 hours, clean/dry calving environments, proper vaccine handling, and timely boosters, including considerations around preconditioning versus vaccinating at weaning. Learn more about Noble here: https://bit.ly/3DD7uG0 Learn more about Vence here: https://bit.ly/4kfWrCG Learn more abou Elanco here: https://farmanimal.elanco.com/us/beef Catch more conversations like this one and learn more at https://www.casualcattleconversations.com/ 01:16 4-H Memories 03:09 What BRD Really Is 06:45 Mycoplasma Spotlight 08:01 Treatment Options 11:09 Diagnostics And Timing 12:59 Vet Partnership And Management 16:29 Prevention Starts At Birth 20:00 Vaccines And Boosters 22:11 Weaning And Preconditioning 24:32 Prevention Recap And Supply Chain

August 17, 2026Episode 3321 min

Artificial Intelligence: Is It Benefitting Ranchers?

This week, Shaye Wanner interviews Haley Potter from the Ambrook team about how artificial intelligence can support ranch profitability and long-term continuity when used responsibly. Potter, who has North Dakota ranching roots and splits time between ranches in Dell and Alder, Montana, says AI fits best for producers who need help with information gathering and admin tasks while keeping humans in control of decisions and fact-checking outputs. She shares examples such as using Claude to summarize bull sale catalogs based on EPD parameters, building grazing plans, and analyzing financials for expansion scenarios, plus customer examples like an AI-assisted ordering/lead tool for direct-to-consumer beef and a “ranch command center” dashboard. Potter explains Ambrook’s AI-assisted bookkeeping features (tagging, invoice matching, receipt scanning) and emphasizes data quality, transparency, and privacy, including choosing trusted services and requiring approval for data use. See what Ambrook can do for your operation here: ambrook.com/casualcattle Learn more about Noble here: https://bit.ly/3DD7uG0 Learn more about Vence here: https://bit.ly/4kfWrCG 00:00 AI and Ranching Today 00:11 Meet Haley Potter 01:30 AI Not Insemination 01:56 Can AI Help Ranchers 02:51 Haley Ranching Roots 04:10 Responsible AI Basics 05:45 Real Ranch AI Examples 09:56 What Ambrook Does 10:39 AI Features in Ambrook 12:54 Time Savings and Better Data 15:25 Data Privacy and Trust

August 10, 2026Episode 3230 min

Making Virtual Fence Cost Effective for Ranchers

This week on the Casual Cattle Conversations Podcast, Shaye interviews Jay and Cheyenne Smith, cattle producers on Idaho’s eastern edge near the Montana border, about adopting Vence virtual fencing and coordinating with neighboring permittees to make it cost-effective. After the 2022 Moose Fire and grazing restrictions, they partnered with the University of Idaho and worked with BLM and the Forest Service to implement virtual fencing on rugged public-land range; five permittees now use shared base stations while owning separate collars. They discuss early hesitations about data being used against producers, onboarding lessons about placing fences to match natural cattle trails, and management gains including fewer emergency rides, more schedulable work, improved utilization control, and more efficient gathers. Virtual fencing enabled their shift from winter to fall calving by keeping cattle positioned to come home, reducing labor needs, and providing movement data useful for investigating events like wolf predation or other disturbances. Learn more about Vence here: https://bit.ly/4kfWrCG Catch more conversations like this one and learn more at https://www.casualcattleconversations.com/ 00:00 Virtual Fence Neighbors 01:08 Meet the Smiths 01:34 Ranch and Grazing Setup 04:05 Fire Sparks Adoption 07:02 Getting Neighbors Onboard 09:32 Workload and Riding Changes 11:43 Sharing Towers and Data 14:14 Training and Fence Design 18:01 Better Utilization and Plans 19:15 Fall Calving Made Possible 22:33 Costs and Quality of Life 25:23 Wolves and Movement Clues 27:35 Next Generation Buy In