Optimum Plans for a 1600 Acre Ranch on Williams-Tetonka-Cavour Soil Association in Central South Dakota Including an Analysis of Pasture Improvement Work Done by Ranchers

A profit maximizing linear programming model was used to arrive at optimum plans for a typical ranch in the Willimas-Tetonka-Cavour soil association are of central South Dakota. The typical ranch used for the analysis had 500 acres of cropland and 1056 acres of native grass. Low, medium and high levels of efficiency were assumed in grain crop and livestock production. Forage production was obtained from different management systems on tame grasses and native grasses. Tame grasses included brome-alfalfa, crested wheatgrass, Russian wild rye, and sudan grass. Native grass production was obtained from alternative management systems including renovated pasture, fertilized pasture, continuous grazed, or deferred grazing systems. Optimum plans, under five different levels of capital restriction, were developed for various combinations of the efficiency levels in crop and livestock production. It was found in this study that crop production had priority on the use of capital at all levels of efficiency. When capital was very limited, profits were maximized by limiting the size of the beef cow herd and permitting pasture land to go idle. As capital became available it was profitable to place it first into crop production through the use of fertilizer, weed and pest control, and improved crop varieties. The optimum plans, obtained when efficiency levels were permitted to vary, added-capital beyond the cropping program by first investing in low efficiency livestock. This permitted a larger volume livestock program and more acres of native pasture to be utilized. As capital became more available, livestock numbers were expanded and livestock efficiency was increased by investing in better breeding stock and improved management programs. Livestock fattening activities were also added as more capital became available. The typical program, when capital was not limited, maintained a cow herd under a 5 and ½ months grazing program. The calves were wintered on pasture and hay, grazed the following summer and then placed in a drylot fattening activity. The most profitable crop program was highly dependent upon the relative crop production efficiencies and the assumed price relationships. Individual operators must evaluate their own production efficiency in the various crops and determine which crops to produce through the budgeting procedure. In this study, it was only under a high efficiency level in both crops and livestock that it became profitable to interseed the 25 percent condition rangeland. In all other situations this rangeland was utilized through a deferred grazing program. The resulted of this study indicate that the renovation of native pastures in central South Dakota in not profitable unless there is a high efficiency in both crop and livestock production and capital is not a limiting factor. As the efficiency in crop production increased it became more profitable to use cropland to produce cash crops. Forage production for livestock then came from native grassland. It was not profitable to invest in range improvement unless the efficiency in livestock production was relatively high. It must be recognized, however, that this study has placed no value upon the risk and uncertainty involved in crop production. The second part of this study used a multiple correlation analysis to relate various factors to the amount of pasture improvement work done by ranchers. Those factors that contributed most significantly to variation in the amount of pasture improvement work done were (1) innovativeness of the rancher, (2) his expectations regarding a satisfactory stand from a new seeding, and (3) his opinion regarding the profitability of range improvement relative to other alternatives

Farm and Ranch Business Record Book : Part II, Depreciation Schedules and Inventories

This publication provides information, instructions, and sample forms for continuous depreciation schedules and inventories

Costs Per Hour and Per Acre for Machine Operations

Machine costs are affected by many variables. Size, age, purchase price, maintenance, fuel type, and hours of use each year are just a few of the many factors involved. They may be different in each individual farm situation. List prices employed in arriving at costs are based upon 1979 price levels. These prices may vary because of geographic location as well as special options available on most machines. However, prices used in this publication are believed by the author to be representative of investment requirements for the machines that are listed

Financial Analysis South Dakota Farm Panel Records Program 1973

The data in this report have been obtained from a selected number of farms located in Central South Dakota. It is a summary of data gathered in a pilot program for the development of a computerized farm financial information system. For this reason the data in this report cannot be interpreted as representative of all farms or areas in South Dakota, However, it can serve as a guide to those persons with farm operations similar to the ones included in this report. Data is presented in this report on the average of all farms participating in the record keeping activities. It includes data for the high 1/3 of the farms and the low 1/3 of the farms. The high and low is in terms of net farm income realized and not the high and low for each individual factor. Such data is useful in order to get a feel of the range of results as well as the average

Financial Analysis South Dakota Farm Panel Records Program 1972

The data in this report have been obtained from a selected number of farms located in Hyde, Hand and Faulk counties. South Dakota. It is a summary of data gathered in the first 3 years of a pilot program for the development of a computerized farm financial information system. For this reason the data in this report cannot be interpreted as representative of all farms or all areas of South Dakota, However, it can serve as a guide to those persons with farm operations similar to the ones included in this report. This analysis compares the 1972 costs and returns for the average farm on the panel with costs and returns in 1970 and 1971. Individual operators may likewise study their businesses by comparing this year’s records with those of past years. Such a comparison may be just as helpful as comparing their individual operation to the average farm operation

Farm and Ranch Business Record Book : Part I, Receipts and Expenses and Farm Business Analysis

This publication provides for a record of receipts and expenses, capital accounts and records of depreciation, inventories at the beginning and end of the year, records of production, and an analysis of the farm business

1979 Financial Analysis South Dakota Farm Panel Records Program

The data in this report have been obtained from a selected number of farms located in Central South Dakota. It is a summary of data gained in a limited participation program for the development of a computerized farm financial information system. For this reason, the data in this report cannot be interpreted as representative of all farms or areas in South Dakota. However, it can serve as a guide to those persons with farm operations similar to the ones included in this report. Data is presented in this report on the average for all participating farms in one geographic location. Beef production is the predominant livestock operation. Farms with dairy, hogs and sheep are also included. The principle crops include wheat, corn, oats and alfalfa hay

A Budget Data Bank for South Dakota Crop and Livestock Enterprises

The budget data bank is a tool for developing and storing crop and livestock enterprise budgets, initially developed by Oklahoma State University. Teaching staff, research workers and extension personnel in farm management frequently have need for cost and return data on crop and livestock enterprises. In addition, it is necessary to frequently update the budgets under changing prices conditions or alter the budgets for specialized purposes. The budget data bank will store basic data for 349 budgets. It provides a system for quickly modifying and updating the budgets and a method for standardizing the format and computational procedures used in calculating costs and returns form the different enterprises. The purpose of this report is to document the data preparation and processing procedures for South Dakota use in order to make the budget data bank a useful tool for all staff members