The official start of summer begins tomorrow, and to kick off the beginning of a new season, I thought it would be a good time to have a photo caption contest. The photograph that needs a caption is one of my sister Kaley hugging her “fluffy cow” at the state fair.

Does red meat increase your chances of getting Type 2 diabetes? A new study released on June 17 by JAMA Internal Medicine has come to that conclusion, recommending that folks consume less red meat to reduce the epidemic of Type 2 diabetes. CBS News first scooped the results of the study, and the conclusions are troubling. However, despite the research, I’m waving my B.S. flag on this one, and that doesn’t stand for bachelor of science.

While you’re spending time in the tractor baling hay this summer, you’ll likely hear the new beef campaign, “Beef, Above All Else,” featuring the voice of actor Garrett Hedlund. Ahead of that, however, the Beef It’s What’s For Dinner website has just been revamped, and the change can’t come soon enough.

Last year’s drought, coupled with an extremely long and harsh winter, has depleted our hay supply. Luckily, we have received a steady amount of moisture so far this summer, and in between patches of rain storms, we are busy making hay.

The power and influence of government in our lives is growing at an exponential rate it seems. I’ve always believed that government power must be checked or it inherently leads to not only less freedom and independence, but outright abuse.

At this week's BIF, we largely will still be talking about the same old major themes. These are straight breeding vs. crossbreeding, terminal vs. maternal selection, added output vs. increased inputs, and, of course, the Holy Grail – measuring production efficiency.

The free-market system is amazingly efficient; the reason we produce corn-fed beef is that the most prosperous consumers in the world prefer it to grass-fed beef. And the U.S. wouldn’t be competitive if grass-fed beef was to become the dominant category.

Weather-related stress and other sources of concern in agriculture can put persistent strain on farmers and ranchers operating in today's agricultural economy. However, what farmers and ranchers want to be careful about is letting their personal stresses pile up so that their management practices and decision-making become negatively affected.