Last week, Dan Hanrahan was waiting on the final cows of his herd to calve on pastures of his Madison County farm.

"There’s just a handful of cows I’m still waiting on," Hanrahan said.

The calving season has been going well for Hanrahan this year. And that’s a good thing, not only for Hanrahan, but also for the cattle industry that’s trying to grow its national herd.

Calving season started on the Hanrahan farm near Cumming at the end of February. Though...