{"podcast":{"title":"Casual Cattle Conversations","slug":"casual-cattle-conversations-1194168","podcast_index_feed_id":1194168,"rss_url":"https://feed.podbean.com/casualcattleconversations/feed.xml","website_url":"https://www.casualcattleconversations.com/","image_url":"https://pbcdn1.podbean.com/imglogo/image-logo/6425552/2024_Cover_Art_ch8fec.jpg","author":"casualcattleconversations","episode_count":289,"summary":"Casual Cattle Conversations is a podcast that utilizes rancher-to-rancher education to share experiences, stories and information about beef cattle producers and other individuals in the cattle industry. This podcast covers all topics related to ranching from time management, entrepreneurship, finances and anything in-between. Join the host, Shaye Koester-Wanner, each week to connect with fellow cattle producers and industry leaders. Link to website, episodes, merchandise & transcripts: https://linktr.ee/cattleconvos","last_synced_at":"2026-07-13T14:21:00.680951+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/casual-cattle-conversations-1194168"},"episode":{"title":"Stop Haying to Improve Your Bottom Line","slug":"stop-haying-to-improve-your-bottom-line","published_at":"2026-04-27T07:12:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/casual-cattle-conversations-1194168/stop-haying-to-improve-your-bottom-line","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/casual-cattle-conversations-1194168","url":"https://casualcattleconversations.podbean.com/e/stop-haying-to-improve-your-bottom-line/","audio_url":"https://mcdn.podbean.com/mf/web/3jy3asrdyz352mrg/CCC_-_Carson_Final_8zms3.mp3","summary":"Have you ever considered that haying might not fit your operation anymore? This week on the podcast, Carson Roberts, a University of Missouri state forage specialist with a background in alfalfa production and cattle, discusses why producers must treat haying as a separate business enterprise and know the true cost of production to evaluate profitability. He outlines using regional hay budget sheets and accounting for income, seed, fertilizer, herbicides, custom hire, labor (including the producer’s time), fuel, repairs, overhead, land charge, and especially machinery ownership and opportunity interest. Carson argues hay often becomes unprofitable due to rising and excess equipment costs, over-equipped farms, and mismatched cattle-to-equipment inflation, suggesting some operations may profit more by selling hay equipment, converting hay acres to pasture, and buying tested hay while building reliable supplier relationships. He highlights cheaper feed alternatives such as grazing/stockpiled fescue, corn stalks, and grazing milo, and notes that aligning calving date with spring forage can reduce winter hay needs and costs. Links and Resources Learn more about Cargill here: https://bit.ly/4e1qygS Learn more about Corteva here: RangeAndPasture.com/CattleConversations Learn more about CattleScales Here: https://bit.ly/4dqqTtr Catch more conversations like this one and learn more at https://www.casualcattleconversations.com/ 02:56 From Agronomy to Forages 05:00 Why Know Hay Costs 06:52 Building a Hay Budget 11:31 Equipment Overload Trap 15:50 When Hay Doesn’t Pencil 19:45 Scale and Reality Check 22:10 Buying Hay Strategically 26:43 Grazing Beats Haying 29:32 Hay Testing and Sourcing 33:11 Winter Grazing Options 36:35 Calving Date and Profit 39:40 Weaning Weights Myth","meta_description":"Have you ever considered that haying might not fit your operation anymore? This week on the podcast, Carson Roberts, a University of Missouri state forage…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":2711,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/casual-cattle-conversations-1194168/episodes/stop-haying-to-improve-your-bottom-line/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/casual-cattle-conversations-1194168/stop-haying-to-improve-your-bottom-line.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}