Education is one of the most valuable resources for anyone. It is also the investment that will pay the highest dividend when used correctly. Books are a very good resource for education. The thing to remember is that though you may no longer be in school education does not end during your life.
Being able to produce top-quality beef in today’s world requires a rancher to be a lifelong learner. With the ever-changing world that we live in it is important to stay up to date on things. We are constantly learning more about animal behavior and better low-stress handling techniques. Experience can be the best teacher but using the right books lets you learn from the experiences of others.
With the wide selection of information available out there in books and on the internet, it can be a little confusing trying to find the correct information out there. Here I compiled a list of the 5 best books that could help you in improving your operation.
Disclaimer: I am not receiving anything from these sources. This is just my opinion. The headlines are the links to finding these books on Amazon.
Storey’s Guide to Raising Beef Cattle
I guess let’s begin with the most obvious choice. This book is very well-known in the cattle industry and has been referenced many times. The information provided in this book is helpful to cattle producers at any level. The author, Heather Smith Thomas, draws on her years of experience and industry knowledge to cover many topics.
This book provides expert advice on everything that you could possibly need in order to raise beef cattle. There are sections about breed selection, calving, feeding, and anything else that you could need to know. It provides information not only for beginning livestock producers but could even help experienced ones as well.
Though it is more of a guide for beginning ranchers the information provided in the latest editions is good for any producer.
The Cattle Health Handbook
One thing that is bound to happen is that eventually one or more of your animals will get sick. Knowing the signs of illness and how to treat them could save you a lot of money in both lost revenue and vet bills.
This book provides not only theories on how to treat animals but also gives you actual hands-on tips that make this information very valuable to anyone.
The information covered here tells you how to identify and treat any of the common injuries or sicknesses that you will encounter on the ranch as well as some that may not happen that often. It also covers the causes of certain ailments giving you information on possibly how to prevent them from happening again.
Humane Livestock Handling
This book is written by Dr. Temple Grandin one of the most influential advocates of humane livestock handling in the world today. She provides her years of experience in developing stress-free facility designs and low-stress livestock handling right before your eyes here. Though the book is more than a decade old the points made are still relevant today.
In order to provide a stress-free environment for your cattle you would first need to understand their natural behavior and their temperament. All that information is covered in the first part of this book. She discusses the best ways for moving cattle not only in the pasture but also in paddocks and feedlot pens.
The second half of the book provides plans and diagrams for constructing the right facilities in order to put the first half into practice. How to set up the alleyways to be more curved to accommodate the cow’s natural tendency is included in this book. Whether you have a pasture, paddock, or feedlot there are tips provided to improve your operation.
Range Management: Principles and practices
In order to be productive you should also know how to take care of the land. Range Management is a good introduction to the science of range management. Being able to extend your grazing season is a very good way to reduce your overall feed costs.
This book covers the key principles and best practices of range management in the modern world. It combines well both scientific studies and practical applications that make it very easy to understand. One such thing is how to properly determine your grazeable acreage. If you are interested I go over that in a previous post “Estimating your grazeable acreage”.
This book was one of the required readings for a range management course that I was taking at A&M. Though it has been some time I still find myself looking back through it to find information. It is a good book to keep for reference if you ever find yourself with a problem.
How to raise Cattle
This book provides all the information that you could want to know about raising cattle. Whether you are wanting to raise one or a large herd this book will provide all you need to know. The good thing about this book is that it provides information not only for the beginner but for the longtime rancher as well.
This book guides you through all the steps of raising cattle from beginning to end. It also covers how to choose a certain breed and how to obtain the cattle. Included is information about the facilities to use, production systems, and stocking guidelines to name a few. In addition to providing proper feed, there are also concerns regarding animal health addressed.
It also covers conventional, sustainable, and organic farming practices for anyone interested in any of those. Along with detailed instructions on how to go about ranching with one of those 3 goals in mind, It will give you the tools you need to be successful in this rewarding business.
As I said before these are just a few of my personal choices for books that could be invaluable for anyone wanting to either start out raising cattle or just want to improve what they already have. If you are wanting to get your hands on one or all of these books I provided a link to where you can purchase them.
