Animal Sciences Commons^™

Calculating Unit Costs Of Production And Using The Information For Enterprise Analysis And Decision Making On The Ranch, Aaron L. Berger

Range Beef Cow Symposium

INTRODUCTION

Unit Cost of Production (UCOP) and Enterprise Analysis are tools that ranch managers have been encouraged to utilize in making decisions to improve profit. Managers who have adopted these tools have found them to be valuable in identifying opportunities and problem areas in enterprises on the ranch.

HISTORY OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF UNIT COSTS OF PRODUCTION FOR USE IN RANCH MANAGEMENT DECISIONS

The late 1970s and 1980s were challenging times financially for farm and ranch businesses, forcing many to exit the industry. In the early 1990s, the National Cattlemen’s Association Integrated Resource Management (IRM) subcommittee developed Standardized Performance Analysis …

Feed Additives And “Subtherapeutics” In Cattle, Mike Apley

Range Beef Cow Symposium

First, what is a “subtherapeutic”?

The Food and Drug Administration Center for Veterinary Medicine (FDA/CVM) has a variety of approval classifications for antimicrobials in food animals. These include…

1. Improvement in rate of gain

2. Improvement in feed efficiency

3. Control of disease

4. Prevention of disease

5. Treatment of disease

The first 2 would fall into the “subtherapeutic” category by all of the definitions I am aware of. This is regardless of whether these applications have an effect on disease or not. Control and prevention of disease are considered therapeutic uses by the FDA/CVM and the American Veterinary Medical …

The Changing Structure Of Beef Production: Stockers, Calf Feds And Yearlings, Tom Brink

Range Beef Cow Symposium

Beef production is always in a state of flux. Nothing in this business stays the same for very long. The current situation is truly unique compared to anything we have experienced in the past. Demand is growing. Supply is shrinking. Cattle prices are rising and show no sign of stopping, despite reaching record highs this year. Production costs are also increasing. There are some very real opportunities in the cow-calf business and other producer segments. But financial risks exist as well. My belief is that the good outweighs the bad. Cow-calf producers could see some of the best profits during …

Importance Of Steak Origin To Restaurant Customers, Kimberly A. Varnold, Chris R. Calkins, B. Lynn Gordon, Wendy J. Umberger

Range Beef Cow Symposium

Introduction

Today, consumers are more informed about the origin of their food due to the desire to have confidence in the safety of their food. This need for information has lead to an increase in demand for even higher levels of safety and quality (Unnevehr, 2003). Currently, traceability and source-verification are considered indicators of beef quality and safety by consumers. Mennecke et al. (2007) found that consumers place a high precedence on any information that can relate to the origin and production of their food. Research also indicates there could be preference for U.S. beef, especially beef from the Midwest …

Global Beef Marketing Opportunities, Paul Clayton

Range Beef Cow Symposium

Introduction

Over the last several years US beef production has experienced significant growth in globalization. This globalization is sometimes hard to define but in general the US has seen US beef companies open businesses in foreign markets as well as foreign companies establish business in the US. The type of global beef businesses range from suppliers of beef genetics via semen and embryos to processors and distributors of finished high quality beef products. Likewise raw materials, feed and production technologies may be sourced all over the world. This paper will discuss several of the factors that describe this globalization. Fundamentally …

The Importance Of Maintaining Structure To Ring-Necked Pheasant And Waterfowl Production In The Upper Great Plains, Benjamin Geaumont, Kevin Sedivec, Christopher Schauer

Range Beef Cow Symposium

Introduction

Privately owned lands serve a crucial role in maintaining wildlife populations. Perhaps that is because approximately 60 percent of the land in the United States is privately owned (Lubowski et al. 2006). While many private landowners are aware that how they use their lands will impact wildlife, some private landowners are looking for ways to maintain wildlife populations at increased levels for both aesthetic and economical purposes. In recent years, expenditures associated with hunting have boosted many local economies as well as benefiting private landowners (Benson, 1989; Das and Rainey, 2009). As such, landowners who are concerned with both …

Factors Influencing Generational Transfers Of Farm/Ranch Assets, Dave Goeller

Range Beef Cow Symposium

Introduction

The University of Nebraska began educating farmers and ranchers in the area of farm business succession planning over 25 years ago. During that period over 1,000 Nebraska farming businesses have received assistance transferring their farm business from one generation to the next. Early efforts focused on the farm financial aspects of the transition process, however, because of farmer evaluations, educational efforts have shifted focus to communication skills and the importance of the business succession planning process.

Trends in United States agriculture over the past 25 years indicate the importance of farm business succession planning and the urgency created by …

Weaned Calf Growing Options: How Do We Economically Produce A 1,000 Lb Steer For Feedlot Entry, Terry Klopfenstein

Range Beef Cow Symposium

The cattle industry thrived for 50 years on cheap corn. However, cheap corn appears to be “a thing of the past”. Because of the unique ability of the ruminant to use forages and fibrous byproducts, the cattle industry has an opportunity to adjust nutrition programs away from “cheap corn” to forages. I believe there are two important myths that need to be discussed. Myth 1 is that forage gains are cheaper than feedlot gains, therefore we should put as much weight as possible on cattle using forage. We produced 1020 lb steers off grass on September 15 at a backgrounding …

Land/Enterprise And Ownership Transfer, Lucy C. Meyring

Range Beef Cow Symposium

YOUR ESTATE PLAN MAY BETHE DEATH OF YOU YETI!!!

*****The average age of America's farmers and ranchers is SS

*****There are twice as many farmers over the age of 6S as under the age of 35

*** **Half of agricultural land is owned by folks older than 75

*****69% want to pass their farms or ranches on to their children

*****Only 3-5% of farm and ranch families in Colorado have a complete estate plan

*****The Family Farm Institute reports that only a third of all family businesses succeed in the second generation and a mere 15% survive to the third …

Marketing Something Old, Not New

Range Beef Cow Symposium

Every single time I have Dr. Nathan Bryan on the radio he inspires me to write about the work he is doing. Bryan is one of only a couple dozen dietary nitrate researchers in the world and yet the work they do may be the most important in relation to understanding aging and improved human health. The really frustrating part regarding this information is that a few squeaky wheels attempt to create a negative image about nitrates in some meat products when, globally, consumers are actually nitrate deficient.

Dr. Nathan Bryan is a biochemist and researcher in Houston at the …

Cow Side Of Producing A 1,000 Lb. Feeder, Cow Size And Expenses, Ken Olson, Justin Waggoner, John Jaeger

Range Beef Cow Symposium

Introduction

Do relationships exist between cow size, nutrient requirements, and production capability? We can assume that a bigger cow will require more nutrients. What are the characteristics of that relationship? Is it a direct response wherein a cow that is 10% bigger than another will require 10% more nutrients, or is there economy of scale, so to speak? Can we assume that a bigger cow will be more productive? Is it automatic that bigger size means faster growth so we can expect the calves of bigger cows to grow faster? We will explore these relationships.

Cow Size

It is commonly …

Genomics For The Rancher: How Does It Work And What Does It Mean?, Jack C. Whittier

Range Beef Cow Symposium

Introduction

I am continually amazed at the tools we have in today’s world to assist in making better and better decisions. This is true in most aspects of our lives – from communications to computers; from entertainment to eating; from politics to travel; and many, many more components of what we do and how we live. The digital age has created an information explosion, and livestock production has not been left out of this progress.

Another amazing aspect of today’s world is the vast knowledge being uncovered and refined in the world of biology and science. Gregor Mendel, an Austrian …

50 Years Of Applying Reproductive Technology To Breeding Cattle, George E. Seidel, Jr.

Range Beef Cow Symposium

Prior to the mid 20th century, reproductive management of both beef and dairy cattle consisted primarily of purchasing a bull every 2 years from a neighbor thought to have a herd with above average genetics. That description is still embarrassingly close to the truth for the majority of beef cattle herds in North America. The one striking difference is that bulls being purchased currently are, in fact, usually above average genetically. One result is that the amount and quality of beef produced per cow or per unit input of feed, labor, etc. have increased dramatically, at least partly due to …

Range Beef Cow Symposium Xxii, Ted Schroeder, Jim Robb, Aaron Berger

Range Beef Cow Symposium

Presented by Cooperative Extension Services and the Animal Science Departments of The University of Wyoming, Colorado State University, South Dakota State University, University of Nebraska.

Contents NOTE: All links below are to PDF files. (Links to UNL Beef site active as of May 2012; files are also permanently archived in the UNL DigitalCommons site)

Industry Issues

Policy Affecting the Cattle Industry

Senator Mike Johanns, Nebraska

Public Issues (PDF 78KB)

Trent Loos, LoosTales

Positioning the Range Beef Herd for the Next 25 Years

Implications of the Ethanol Industry for Cow-Calf Producers (PDF 317KB)

Ted Schroeder, Agricultural Economics, KSU

Current Inventory - …

Do Livestock And Ecosystem Services Compete? A State-And-Transition Approach, John Ritten, Maria Fernandez-Gimenez, Emily Kachergis, Willow Hibbs, James Pritchett

Range Beef Cow Symposium

Rangeland managers are charged with managing complex social-ecological systems. While they must be concerned with economic sustainability, they are often under pressure to provide public benefits as well. As the public becomes aware of the additional services these diverse ecosystems provide, land managers are becoming pressured to provide ecosystem services in addition to livestock production. However, there are few tools that provide the type of information rangeland managers need to understand the trade-offs of managing for different ecosystem services in order to make these complex decisions.

In 2010, the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), US Forest Service (FS), and …

Implications Of The Ethanol Industry For Cow-Calf Producers, Ted C. Schroeder

Range Beef Cow Symposium

Introduction

The ethanol industry in the United States has expanded very rapidly and is a major user of feed grain, especially corn. In 2011, some 40% of US corn production is expected to be used for ethanol production. At the same time as the ethanol industry was expanding, other market events were also occurring that collectively resulted in corn prices more than doubling from 2006 to 2010. Corn price increases, all else constant, directly reduce calf and yearling prices as these animals become more expensive for feedlots to feed. The result, cow-calf producers realize lower returns on their cow enterprise. …

Making Safe, Affordable And Abundant Food A Global Reality, Jeff Simmons

Range Beef Cow Symposium

Introduction

A growing wave of food insecurity threatens more than 1 billion people around the world.1 Global food costs are growing to dangerous levels, reaching record highs in January 2011. And these prices are expected to persist, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

We are at a crossroads. In the past two years, the global economic recession has decreased consumer buying power and increased food insecurity. In the next two years, tight supplies and rising food prices may stretch an already extended system to the breaking point. No longer is the number of hungry people steadily …

Vaccination: What The Heck Am I Doing?, G. L. Stokka

Range Beef Cow Symposium

The use of vaccines and vaccination in general can be a very confusing topic. There are literally hundreds of different vaccines available for use by beef producers, with multiple antigens and differing levels of effectiveness and safety. Veterinarians serve a critical function in making proper recommendations based on individual herd objectives and assessment of risk of exposure and economic loss. However, there is a lack of objective peer reviewed literature to assist the practitioner and beef producer in this area. The purpose of this paper is to bring some sense of philosophy, science and logic to this topic. Management keys …

Planning Ahead To Save Aums And The Cow Herd In Times Of Forage Shortage, Jerry D. Volesky, Don C. Adams

Range Beef Cow Symposium

Introduction

Drought is a recurring phenomenon with potential to significantly impact the livestock industry. During the past 14 years, the majority of livestock producers in the Great Plains and western states have experienced some level of drought ranging from moderate to extreme or even exceptional. Many grazing experts recommend developing a ranch drought plan to reduce their drought risk (Nagler et al. 2007). Most of these plans are specifically customized to an individual operation and include both short-term and long-term strategies and objectives. Producers with a drought plan actively monitor resources; build ecological, financial, and social resilience into their operations; …

Livestock And Vegetation Responses To Stocking Rate And Grazing System, Justin D. Derner

Range Beef Cow Symposium

Vegetation and livestock responses from a 25 year (1982-2006) grazing system and stocking rate study in the northern mixed-grass prairie at the USDA-Agricultural Research Service, High Plains Grasslands Research Station near Cheyenne, Wyoming are presented here. This study was longest known grazing system X stocking rate study in North America and was one of the few studies to use the same stocking rates for grazing system comparisons. Results from this study have been used to further development of, and validate, rangeland models for tactical (within-year) and strategic (across years) decision support tools for producers.

Feeding The World, Challenges And Opportunities For The U.S. Beef Industry, Clint Peck

Range Beef Cow Symposium

Nobody ever said the beef business was going to be easy. But, who knew even 10 years ago how complicated it would be to raise a calf and get it sent off to market. Few could have predicted there would be raging debates over animal welfare and animal rights or “food vs. fuel.” Not long ago the most intense pressure facing cattle ranchers came while slugging it out for market share with chicken. For 20 years we lost so much market share to a burgeoning and highly-integrated poultry industry that we began shifting the nucleus of the U.S. beef industry …

Bull Management And Nutrition, Julie Walker, George Perry, Russ Daly, Ken Olson

Range Beef Cow Symposium

Proper management and nutrition of bulls is essential to ensure cow/calf producers maximize reproductive efficiency and genetic improvement of the calf crop. In addition, the herd bull influences overall herd fertility more than any other single animal, and loss of fertility by a bull can cause substantial loss to a potential calf crop. Each cow produces one calf per year; however, bulls should contribute to the calf crop by 25 to 60 times via siring 25 to 60 calves. Additionally, bulls influence their daughters’ production in the cow herd. Therefore, bull selection can be the most powerful method of genetic …

Establishing Priorities And Sticking To Them, Douglas Olsen

Range Beef Cow Symposium

Douglas Olsen farms and ranches in Banner County, located in the Nebraska Panhandle. Douglas and his father, Arthur, operate Olsen Ranches, Inc., a fourth generation family business with a Hereford/Red Angus commercial beef cattle operation that retains ownership of the cattle through harvest and a predominantly no-till farming operation raising wheat, corn, millet, peas, alfalfa, barley, and oats. Olsen Ranches, Inc. is the primary reference herd for the American Hereford Association National Reference Sire Program, participating in this program since 1999, and also served as one of the test herds for the National Cattlemen’s Tenderness Project.

Advocates For Agriculture: Discovering Your Influential Power, Troy Hadrick, Stacy Hadrick

Range Beef Cow Symposium

One doesn’t have to watch any type of media source for very long these days to come across a story that is very negative towards agriculture. Specifically, animal agriculture has become a favorite target for many reporters, animal rights groups, and even some consumers. It seems that many of them chose not to even include the thoughts of actual farmers and ranchers when talking about agriculture. Instead they turn to the internet or other non-ag sources for their information. So with so much negative attention being placed on food production, what do we do as producers to combat this situation? …

Animal Rights As A Mainstream Phenomenon [Shortened Version For Reading In Australia], Bernard E. Rollin

Range Beef Cow Symposium

The last 50 years have witnessed a dazzling array of social ethical revolutions in Western society. Such moral movements as feminism, civil rights, environmentalism, affirmative action, consumer advocacy, pro- and anti-abortion activism, homosexual rights, children‘s rights, the student movement, antiwar activism, public rejection of biotechnology, have forever changed the way governments and pubic institutions comport themselves. This is equally true for private enterprise: to be successful, businesses must be seen as operating solidly in harmony with changing and emerging social ethics. It is arguable that morally based boycotting of South African business was instrumental in bringing about the end of …

Extensive Heifer Development Systems, Richard N. Funston, Jeremy Martin, Andy Roberts

Range Beef Cow Symposium

Studies in numerous species provide evidence that diet during development can partially control physiological changes necessary for puberty (Frisch, 1984). Energy balance or plane of nutrition influences reproductive performance in heifers and cows (Butler and Smith, 1989; Randel, 1990; Robinson, 1990; Short and Adams, 1988; Swanson, 1989). Numerous studies have reported inverse correlations between postweaning growth rate and age at puberty (Arije and Wiltbank, 1971; Ferrell, 1982; Short and Bellows, 1971; Wiltbank et al., 1966, 1969, 1985) and pregnancy rates in heifers were shown to be dependent upon the number displaying estrus prior to or early in the breeding season …

Common $Ense Heifer Management, Patsy Houghton

Range Beef Cow Symposium

The replacement heifer is a mixed blessing for cow-calf operators. On one hand, she represents the future profitability and genetic improvement of the cow herd; thus her selection and development are of paramount importance to the continued success of any cow herd. On the other hand, the replacement heifer is an inconvenience at best. She is essentially non-productive for the first two-and-a-half years of her life; thus she places a significant drain on a rancher’s cash flow, making her easy prey for mismanagement. Nevertheless, proper growth and development of the replacement female from birth until she produces her first calf …

Impact Of Method Of Heifer Development And Post-Ai Management On Reproductive Efficiency, George Perry, Julie Walker, Cody Wright, Ken Olson

Range Beef Cow Symposium

An important part of any production system is the reproductive performance and costs associated with developing replacement heifers. The cost of developing replacement heifers has a tremendous impact on the profitability and sustainability of cow-calf operations, and reproductive failure costs the U.S. beef and dairy industries approximately $1 billion annually (Bellows et al., 2002). Heifers need to calve by 24 months of age to achieve maximum life-time productivity (Patterson et al., 1992), and heifers that lose a pregnancy or conceive late in the breeding season are likely to not have enough time to rebreed during a defined breeding season. In …

Profitable Cow And Heifer Pregnancy Rates, Jack C. Whittier

Range Beef Cow Symposium

Wow! What a challenging topic. Why is it challenging? Because there is not one right answer; nor is the question easy to define or analyze. However, there are some underlying principles that I believe apply in most situations. I will spend most of my time on those principles with the hope that you as a cattle manager can use these principles to make good decisions.

Integrating Information Into Selection, Connee R. Quinn

Range Beef Cow Symposium

Integration: To make into a whole by bringing all parts together. As ranchers we intuitively know the unique resources that make up the whole of our operations and use these resources to cost effectively produce a product. Ranch resources can be simply categorized into forage, genetics and people and the rancher‘s commitment to good management practices. Add to that, information or knowledge management, management of relationships and, of course, managing for the end product. The glue that holds these parts together is the rancher-- the heart, the passion of the operation.