Being efficient is the art of “achieving maximum productivity with minimum wasted effort or expense”.  We have spent the last 10 years trying to breed cattle that would waste no bite of grass and have little need for extra inputs, except some hay in the winter.  As we hauled cows home today from distant pastures ahead of colder weather a neighbor who was helping us commented that he couldn’t believe how fat our cows had gotten off of our summer grass.  This has got me thinking on the quality of our cows.  The first time I truly noticed how grass efficient our cows are was in the summer of 2017.  It was the first true dry times we had faced and our cows came through in great flesh with good calves at their sides.  These moderate framed mommas are now facing their second challenge in our short careers.  While searching the twitter verse it is hard not to come across many cattleman and farmers who are feeling the pressure of a down market.  Our operation was not and still is not based on $1400 steer calves.  We have tried to keep our expenses as low as possible, to achieve maximum productivity from our resources.  These easy keeping cows are the key component  to our ability to continue to push forward in tough times.  These cows seem to show their true value when times are the toughest.