Live, In-the-Beef, or Formula: Is There a "Best" Method for Selling Fed Cattle?

Livestock Production/Industries, Marketing,

IMPACTS OF THE 2002 DROUGHT ON WESTERN RANCHES AND PUBLIC LAND POLICIES

Land Economics/Use,

EQUITABLE CROPSHARE ARRANGEMENTS FOR INTENSIVE DRYLAND CROPPING SYSTEMS

As producers move toward intensive dryland cropping systems, the potential for inequities in cropshare lease arrangements exists. A whole farm budget was developed to evaluate returns for landowner and tenant from different cropshare lease arrangements. Results suggest that cropshare lease adjustments are necessary as cropping systems become more intensive.Crop Production/Industries,

A Financial Analysis of Alternative Levels of Facility Investment Associated with Installing an Automatic Milking System

This fact sheet models some of the key variables impacting profitability of AMS and explicitly considers three different levels of capital investment in facilities in addition to the capital cost of the AMS. The specific objective is to determine how the level of capital investment in additional facilities impacts the profitability of an AMS

The Mad Cow Disease Trade Ban and Changes in the U.S. and Canadian Cull Cow Markets: A DAG Analysis

A directed a cyclical graph (DAG) methodology was used to discover changes in price relationships among cull cow markets in the U.S. and Canada resulting from the trade ban initiated by the discovery of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE, also called mad cow disease), in a Canadian cow in 2003. Comparison of the pre- and post-ban DAGs supports the hypothesis that large structural changes in the flow of cull cow market information has occurred with significant changes both within and between countries. The typical flow of information from south to north and east to west was disrupted.Livestock Production/Industries,

A Comparison of the Effectiveness of Using Futures, Options, or LRP Insurance to Manage Risk for Cow-calf Producers

Historically most cow-calf producers have not used the CME Feeder Cattle futures or options to hedge the sale price of their calves. University Extension specialists have conducted numerous workshops over many years to educate producers on the use of futures and options and yet only a small percentage of producers use these risk management tools

Cow-Calf Retained Ownership Analysis and Price Forecasting Using an Online Decision-Support Tool

Cow-calf producers frequently must make the decision to either sell their calves at weaning or soon thereafter or retain ownership of the calves through a background/growing phase. While the price they might receive at weaning may be known, there is great uncertainty about what cattle prices might be at the end of the retained ownership program. This fact sheet explains a method for reducing some of the uncertainty with cattle prices when the sale will occur months in the future and introduces a web-based decision-support tool that can help cattle producers quickly analyze the potential returns and risks from various retained ownership alternatives

The Economics of Carcass Weight:

Economists like to use production agriculture as an example of a perfectly competitive industry. The assumption is made that the decisions of an individual firm will not impact the general market price level. However, if a large number of individual firms all have similar cost structures and all make the same economically justified decision to alter production, then collectively this decision will impact the market price level. The result is that the individually correct production decision that was made to increase profits is collectively the incorrect decision, and profits are decreased rather than increased. This is the micro-macro paradox in agriculture

Replacement Beef Heifer Economics

The nutritional management of weaned heifer calves affects not only the conception rate of yearling heifers but also their subsequent conception rate as 2-year-old cows and the weight of their first weaned calf. The costs involved in raising the replacement heifer and the value of cull heifers, 2-year-old cull cows and weaned first calves all need to be considered when determining the least cost method of raising replacement heifers. \u27The effects of raising replacement heifers to prebreeding weights of 50% 62.5% and 70% of expected mature weight are evaluated from an economic perspective. If replacement heifers are only evaluated for one year (1st conception), then raising replacement heifers to only 50% of mature weight is the most economical. However, if the replacement heifer is evaluated through calving, rebreeding and weaning the first calf, then it is most profitable to raise the replacement heifer to 62.5% of expected mature weight

Marketing and Feeding Cull Cows

This publication provides ways to enhance the value of cull cows by innovating marketing and feeding practices