Winter Growth Rate and Timing of Marketing on Economics of Yearling Systems

Abstract

Economic analyses were conducted examining 18 years of Nebraska monthly- average auction data to ! nd the e ects of certain management decisions on the pro! tability of yearling production systems. A 2×2 experimental design was used to examine four possible scenarios. $e variables were either fast winter growth (daily gain, 2.0 lb/ day) or slow winter growth (daily gain, 0.8 lb/day), and either a September or a July marketing date. In addition to pro! tability, risk management was also examined in this study. Average pro! tability of all scenarios was good, ranging from$112 to $143 per calf. Utilizing fast winter growth combined with marketing steers in September was the most pro! table scenario