Ed Brown

Ewes and lambs on pasture in the spring at a farm, in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. (Rachel Wagoner photo) Mid-March has a way of making us all a little impatient. The days are getting longer, the seed catalogs have been read cover to cover and that first flush of green is starting to show along the south-facing slopes. After the winter we’ve had — and honestly, after the couple of years we’ve had — I understand the temptation to open the gate and let the livestock out. Don’t do it yet.

Inflation-weary consumers are facing some new headwinds with word that companies are starting the year by passing through new price increases. The Wall Street Journal reports that after a period of holding the line and leaning on discounts late last year, many businesses are raising prices again, pointing to higher tariffs, labor costs, and health-insurance premiums as major drivers. This “real world” inflation doesn’t show up all at once in a single CPI print as we saw last week.

Cattle on pasture (Submitted photo) As we wrap up 2025, southeast Ohio’s forage producers can look back on a year that felt like Mother Nature couldn’t make up her mind. Coming off the severe drought of 2024 that thinned stands and stressed pastures, many of us hoped for a kinder season. Spring started promisingly with ample rainfall — some areas received up to 8 inches above normal — helping cool-season grasses green up and allowing for early grazing.