Cattle Chat Podcast – Episode Summary

Episode Title: Evolution in the Feedlot Industry, Questioning Cow Calf Practices, Big Cows vs Small Cows on Pasture
Date: November 21, 2025
Host and Panel: Dr. Brad White (Host), Dr. Bob Larson, Dr. Scott (Dustin), Dr. Phillip (identified from context)
Podcast Description: Veterinary professionals from the Beef Cattle Institute at Kansas State University discuss changes in feedlot economics, entrenched practices in the cow-calf sector, and strategic considerations about cow size and herd efficiency.

Episode Overview

This episode centers on critical shifts and longstanding paradigms in beef cattle production—from evolving feedlot management and profitability strategies, to questioning ingrained practices in the cow-calf segment. The hosts also tackle the debate of whether smaller cows in greater numbers outcompete larger cows in pasture efficiency. The conversation, rooted in real-world data and industry experience, encourages producers to challenge “the way it’s always been done” and make decisions suited to their unique operations.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Evolution of Feedlot Practices and Profitability

[03:10 – 10:34]

• Over the last 10–20 years, both days on feed and hot carcass weights in feedlots have steadily increased, with a dramatic rise in the past five years.
• The traditional metric for profitability—harvesting cattle when the “incremental cost of gain” exceeds its value—is being re-examined.
  • Quote: “Basically, once the cost of gain exceeded the value of the gain, that was sale date.”
    — Bob [04:34]
• Historic focus was on feed efficiency and average daily gain, but this approach ignored the animal’s original purchase price.
  • Quote: “...with every pound of gain...I’m diluting out that purchase price, and I'd never thought of that before.”
    — Bob [05:25]
• The COVID pandemic caused feedlots to lengthen their feeding periods due to processing disruptions, which accidentally increased profitability and challenged old paradigms.
  • Quote: “One of the things that happened was during COVID…they were more profitable by going beyond where they would have harvested them.”
    — Brad [07:49]
• Industry shifts: Less market penalization for heavier carcasses and movement from live to grid-based selling.
  • Quote: “20 years ago you used to get a dock for carcasses over £950…today I’m not sure there’s much of any dock…”
    — Bob [10:20]

2. Rethinking "Set in Stone" Cow-Calf Practices

[10:34 – 15:49]

• With feedlot practices shifting, the panel reflects on what entrenched paradigms in the cow-calf sector could also be due for revision.
• Weaning age is examined—why seven months is the default, how forage quality and region play a role, and whether pushing or pulling that number could unlock value.
  • Quote: “We’ve got that number stuck in our head of like seven months or something...but if you think about it from a nutrition standpoint, it depends...”
    — Bob [12:30]
• Other “sacred cows” include the standard 30 cows per bull ratio.
  • Quote: “I’d like to have bulls that can handle more cows…manage groups of bulls so that we can handle more than that.”
    — Bob [11:39]
• Marketing timing, preconditioning, and weighing reputation and risk are also central.
  • Quote: “The longer you hold them, the more at risk days they have to die on your place...”
    — Scott [13:10]

3. The Case for Revisiting Weaning Weight

[14:29 – 16:06]

• Despite genetic improvements in cattle, average weaning weights industry-wide have remained flat due to nutritional constraints—grass quality hasn't kept pace.
  • Quote: “Weaning weight over the last 20 years is a pretty flat line.… we’re kind of stuck in a nutritionally limited mindset.”
    — Bob [15:07]
• The group considers if sale weight—rather than weaning weight—should be the focus, with potential for early weaning followed by strategic feeding.

4. Big Cow vs Small Cow: What Works Best?

[16:06 – 21:47]

• There’s spirited debate over whether it’s better to run more small cows or fewer large cows—given the same land resource. The answer, as agreed upon, rests heavily on operational specifics.
• Larger cows have higher maintenance requirements, but their calves can perform better with feedlot nutrition. Smaller cows allow for more animals and potentially more total calf weight per acre.
  • Quote: “The smaller the cow, the more number of cows I can get on the ranch.… In my—I don’t think it makes much of a difference at all in the efficiency of individual cows…”
    — Bob [17:38]
  • Quote: “My gut...feels like it would be easier to add final pounds of calf sold at the end of the year by adding more calves than adding pounds per calf. That's my gut.”
    — Scott [19:14]
• The panel recognizes the importance of not decoupling reproductive performance and resource limitations from cow size decisions.

5. Challenging Groupthink and Encouraging Individual Analysis

[19:54 – 21:47]

• The episode closes with a call to continually question deeply embedded practices and to “do the math” for each unique scenario.
  • Quote: “It kind of opened my eyes to question some things. And I think on the cow calf side, there are many things we could question—we don’t necessarily know the answers to. But maybe those are some areas we should branch out and try.”
    — Brad [19:54]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On changing feedlot timing:
  “They were forced to try a different way of looking at it…all of a sudden realized we don't need to go back to the old way.”
  — Brad [08:31]

• On industry “paradigms”:
  “It makes sense to me that as soon as how much money I'm spending today...just compared it to how much value that added today—and. Sure. And the point I'm saying here, I didn't understand that...”
  — Bob [09:34]

• On cow size and ranch efficiency:
  “Either way could be equally efficient...”
  — Bob [18:05]
  “I don't, I don't know the answer to that. I can argue either side of that and kind of convince myself.”
  — Bob [20:29]

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Pie Preferences Icebreaker: 00:18 – 03:10
• The Evolution of Feedlot Practices / Days on Feed: 03:10 – 10:34
• Questioning Old Rules & Cow-Calf Industry “Paradigms”: 10:34 – 15:49
• Why Weaning Weights are Stagnant: 15:07 – 16:06
• Big Cow vs Small Cow Debate: 16:06 – 21:47
• Final Thoughts on Challenging Groupthink: 19:54 – 21:47

Episode Tone & Takeaway

• The tone is friendly, collaborative, and frequently light-hearted—experts spar ideas with mutual respect and curiosity.
• There’s ongoing encouragement for cattle producers to challenge herd mentality, adapt to changing economics and genetics, and to analyze and adapt based on their own situation, not ingrained “rules.”

“We need more arguments.”
— Bob [20:21]

For livestock producers, veterinarians, and industry watchers, this episode serves as a reminder: Yesterday’s wisdom isn’t always tomorrow’s profit. Challenge assumptions, do your math, and tailor practices to your operation’s realities.