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Small- And Medium-Sized Feedlots: Management And Marketing Survey Results, Matthew A. Diersen, Scott W. Fausti

Economics Research Reports

Increasing sector specialization has led to a decline in the number of smaller feedlots in the U.S. However, some operations continue to finish or background cattle as part of diversified operations. After a set of focus group sessions a survey was conducted of feedlots in South Dakota to determine the competitive tradeoffs among size of operation and production and risk management practices. The mail survey was designed in collaboration with the National Agricultural Statistical Service (NASS). NASS designed a stratified random sampling methodology for survey instrument dissemination. A bi-variate sampling stratification procedure was used; South Dakota feedlots with less than …