Rockin Bar Nothin Ranch Inc.

05/28/2026

05/14/2026

Beautiful day. Several of my acquaintances are swimming while others are relaxing and soaking up the sunshine. Just another reminder of the beauty that surrounds us.

04/30/2026

📃 The U.S. cattle herd just hit a point we haven’t seen in a long time.

The 2025 calf crop came in around 32.9 million head...and that’s not just low, it’s a record low for the second year in a row.

Less beef cows right now = fewer calves hitting the system down the line. And that ripple effect doesn’t fix itself overnight… or even in a couple seasons. It's gonna be a hot minute!

Even if farmers and ranchers started holding back heifers today to rebuild herds, most can’t afford to do that on a large scale. And even if they did, that still doesn’t mean more beef anytime soon.

Because that timeline is long.
A heifer held back today doesn’t produce a calf until around 2027… and that animal won’t reach market weight until 2028 or later.

That’s why projections keep pointing to 2028 as the earliest real window for herd expansion.

So what does that mean?
Tighter supply is already baked in.

And when supply stays tight, prices stay elevated... regardless of headlines, political promises, or wishful thinking.

And this is the part people miss:
This isn’t a pricing story.

It’s a biology story.

And biology doesn’t move faster just because the conversation around it gets louder. Period.

The cattle cycle takes years to rebuild… and we’re still smack dab in the middle of that rebuild.

Sources: USDA Economic Research Service Livestock Projections (Mar 2025); American Farm Bureau Market Intel (Feb 2026)

04/18/2026

I would just like to clarify, before anyone gets dramatic about this situation, that I am not a baby. I am a weaned Jersey. A mature, independent, hay-eating professional who has moved beyond milk and into the refined world of solid food and questionable life choices.

Which brings us to today’s discovery.

If you take your compact, slightly round, very determined Jersey body and you lower your head just right, tuck the shoulders, and fully commit to the decision without overthinking it, you can fit under the feed rail. Not completely, because again, Jersey proportions are what they are, but enough. Enough to get your entire front half into the hay trough while your back feet remain in the pen, which means technically I have not left my assigned area. I am still exactly where I am supposed to be. I have simply…extended my dining options.

And once you are in the hay trough, everything changes.

Because why stand outside like a civilized, rule-following calf and politely eat when you can stand in the hay. Full access. No reaching. No barriers. Just you and the buffet, living your best life like the fluffy, big-eyed, cinnamon-roll-with-eyelashes Jersey you were born to be. This is not messy. This is efficient. This is advanced hay management.

And then, of course, I look up.

And there is human mommy.

Watching me.

Not saying anything yet, which honestly feels suspicious. Just standing there like she is trying to decide if this is impressive or mildly concerning. And I can tell she has questions. Questions like how did you even get in there and why are you like this and please tell me you have an exit strategy.

So naturally, I freeze.

Hay halfway in my mouth. Front half in the trough. Back half still in the pen. Just staring at her like do not worry. Everything is under control. This was intentional. I am demonstrating initiative. I am showing you that I am capable of independent problem solving now that I am weaned and thriving.

Because in my mind, this is a solution.

I saw hay. I wanted hay. There was a rail. I worked around it. That is critical thinking. That is growth. That is what you wanted from me when you took away the milk.

If anything, I feel like this should be encouraged. Maybe documented. Possibly turned into a training module for the others. We could call it immersive hay consumption. Very advanced. Very efficient.

So before anyone rushes in to “fix” this situation, I would just like to say there is nothing to fix.

This is not a problem.

This is a weaned Jersey with initiative.

And I am absolutely thriving.

04/17/2026

Nice weather. Inspecting cattle and removing unwanted trees in the pasture to clear it up.