For generations of Nebraska beef producers, the Nebraska Beef Cattle Report has been a steady presence – not fancy, not promotional, but dependable. Long before research was something you searched for online, these reports were pulled off shelves, thumbed through, marked up, and used to guide real decisions on real operations.
As early as the 1920s and 1930s, University of Nebraska cattle research was shared through progress reports, cattle circulars, and Annual Feeders’ Day publications. These documents were designed to share what researchers were learning while it still mattered to producers. Feeding trials, pasture carrying capacity, nutrition strategies, and management systems have been included from the start.
Decades ago, beef production was clearly framed as a system. By the 1960s, those efforts had evolved into what many recognize today as the Nebraska Beef Cattle Report. Even then, it emphasized a whole-system approach that connected nutrition, breeding, physiology, management, and meat quality as parts of a unified whole. That foundation was laid by early pioneers and leaders who recognized the need to share timely, applied research with producers and committed to doing so in a way that was practical, unbiased, and accessible. That commitment continues to define the Beef Cattle Report today.
While formats and production systems have changed over time, the value of the Nebraska Beef Cattle Report has been defined by how it is used. Across generations and across roles in the beef industry, producers, consultants, extension educators, and industry professionals point to the same reason they keep coming back to the report. This annual report helps them make better decisions.
Why Producers Keep Coming Back to the Beef Cattle Report
For many producers and industry professionals, the value of the Nebraska Beef Cattle Report lies in its reliability. In an industry where management decisions carry real financial and operational consequences, having access to information that is both unbiased and applicable matters. Across different roles in the beef industry, a consistent theme emerges – The Beef Cattle Report is a resource people trust.
That trust is especially evident among consultants who support large numbers of producers across a wide range of operation sizes. Rob Cooper, a nutritionist and partner at Cattlemen’s Nutrition Services, works with a team of consultants providing private nutrition support to feedyards and cow-calf operations across the United States. Their clients range from 1,000-head operations to feedyards managing more than 50,000 head, with a significant concentration of clients in Nebraska.
We are very data-driven in our approach to consulting, and the data in the Nebraska Beef Cattle Report is among the best and most relevant we can find,” Cooper said. “In short, it is the single most valuable summary of current research information that we very much look forward to getting every year.
At the ranch level, producers describe using the Beef Cattle Report to support both everyday management and less common decisions. Rosemary Anderson operates a 400-head spring-calving cow-calf operation with her husband, along with a yearling steer enterprise of roughly 360 head. Their operation also includes breeding and selling bred heifers, as well as contract heifer development, synchronization, and artificial insemination services.
We use it for baseline information to make predictions like, ‘What kind of cutability can we expect after feeding cull cows for 60 days?’” Anderson explained.
She also relies on the report to refine ongoing management decisions.
We use it for diet ideas, implant strategies, baseline forage quality information, ideas for parasite control, and stocking rate adjustments during drought,” she said. “Sometimes we just browse our favorite researchers to see what they’re up to.
Beyond day-to-day decisions, the report has also become a teaching tool within family operations. Anderson noted that the Beef Cattle Report and related Extension publications have been used to help guide their 19-year-old through the fundamentals of cattle management. This reinforces how research-based information supports both continuity and adaptation across generations.
That long-term influence is echoed by Homer Buell, whose Nebraska ranch has evolved over decades to include seedstock, cow-calf, backgrounding, and yearling enterprises. After graduating from the University of Nebraska in 1971, Buell credits Extension resources, including the Beef Cattle Report, with shaping how he approached ranch management from the beginning.
Each one of those enterprises, whether it be related to bull purchasing, cow selection, feeding, or marketing, has been affected by information learned from the Beef Reports,” Buell said.
Even after selling his cow herd, Buell continued to rely on the report as he transitioned to purchasing calves in the fall, backgrounding them through the winter, and marketing grass cattle averaging around 975 pounds the following summer.
Selection of animals, how they are fed, handling their health, marketing, record keeping, cost management, and bookkeeping have all been affected by the Beef Reports,” he said. “I don’t think our ranch would have been nearly as successful without the knowledge we gained from reading them.
Across operations that vary widely in size, structure, and production goals, the message is consistent. The Nebraska Beef Cattle Report is not a publication that is read once and set aside. It is a resource producers return to repeatedly to evaluate new ideas, validate existing practices, and support informed decision-making at every stage of their operation.
Getting Research into Producers’ Hands While It Still Matters
A recurring reason producers and industry professionals rely on the Nebraska Beef Cattle Report is its ability to deliver research results quickly, while the information is still relevant to management decisions. In a production environment where labor conditions, markets, and technologies continue to evolve, access to timely research can make the difference between reacting too late and planning ahead.
That timeliness stands in contrast to traditional scientific publishing timelines. Rick Stock, who spent 13 years as a faculty member at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln before more than two decades in the feed industry, has relied on the Beef Cattle Report throughout his career.
With the whole process of the journal article, it may take two to three years before results are ever published,” Stock said. “The advantage of the Beef Report is that, within about six months, you can see the results of what has been accomplished.
He noted that the report’s format allows readers to quickly understand both the purpose and implications of a study.
They tell you briefly why they did the research, what they were looking for, and then you see the results and conclusions,” Stock said. He noted that this helps readers decide how to apply the information to their own situations.
That ability to move efficiently from results to application is what makes the Beef Cattle Report especially effective as an Extension tool. Rather than remaining confined to a single publication, research summarized in the report becomes the foundation for conversations, consultations, and educational programming across the state.
Aaron Berger, a livestock systems educator with the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, routinely uses data from the Beef Cattle Report when working directly with producers.
I routinely utilize the data from research studies in the Beef Report to help producers make management decisions,” Berger said. “This information is delivered through articles, press releases, BeefWatch podcasts, and one-to-one interactions with clientele.
That same integration of research and outreach is echoed by Brent Plugge, who has served as an Extension educator since 1994.
This report serves as a great resource for my personal and professional development in terms of improved subject matter competency,” Plugge said. “I recommend certain articles for producers as applicable and often take the time to help them interpret the results.
From an industry nutritionist’s perspective, accessibility and applied relevance remain central. Frank Goedeken, who works with feedyards across Iowa, Nebraska, Wyoming, Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas, first contributed to the Beef Cattle Report as a graduate student author and now relies on it as a professional reference.
It’s good, applied research that we can use,” Goedeken said. “Various feed additives, implant programs, and utilizing distillers grains are probably some of the most important aspects.
He emphasized the value of having a deep, reliable knowledge base readily available.
It’s good to have that background in your hip pocket that you can pull from and use to answer people’s questions and do the best job you can,” he said.
Across roles, from faculty and Extension educators to industry consultants, the consistent message is clear. The Nebraska Beef Cattle Report delivers research in a form that respects both scientific rigor and the realities of production timelines.
Seeing the Whole System, Not Just Individual Pieces
Beyond timeliness, the Nebraska Beef Cattle Report is valued for its ability to look at beef production as a system from systems studies. It recognizes that decisions made in one part of an operation often carry consequences elsewhere.
That broader view is especially important when evaluating new approaches that require time, scale, and consistency. John Maddux, who operates a fifth-generation ranch in southwest Nebraska, manages a 2,400-head cow-calf herd alongside a large yearling enterprise. He markets more than 5,000 yearlings annually across Nebraska and Wyoming grazing systems.
The beef report is very useful in following systems research looking at how different systems might fit into our operations,” Maddux said. “Because these are multi-year projects, it’s useful to see the results compiled to judge whether they might be useful for our operation.
Another very important aspect to the beef report is related to student training. Projects are written and led by graduate students in most cases and is an excellent training and experience for students on communicating the implications and value of their work, and for the target audience of producers, consultants, and others in the industry. We understand at times that statistics can be confusing but these approaches are really what makes the recommendations repeatable or reliable, versus fictional. Research-based decision-making is critical for the industry and has also been a longstanding tradition.
A Legacy That Continues to Evolve
For more than a century, Nebraska beef producers have faced constant change, including shifts in markets, weather, technology, and production systems. Throughout that change, the Nebraska Beef Cattle Report has remained a steady resource. It has evolved in format and scope while staying grounded in its core purpose of providing practical, unbiased, research-based information that producers can trust.
What began as early progress reports and cattle circulars has grown into a comprehensive annual publication reflecting the complexity of modern beef production. Its value has never been about appearance or frequency. Its value lies in how it is used. The report is pulled from shelves, revisited year after year, and applied to real decisions that shape operations across the state and beyond.
That continued relevance reflects a long-standing commitment by generations of researchers and Extension professionals who have treated the Beef Cattle Report not simply as a publication, but as a responsibility to the current and future beef industry. As production practices continue to evolve, the need for reliable, applied research, and for a trusted way of sharing it remains unchanged.
