Traditional break-even/fed cattle price projections do not provide adequate risk information to feeders, investors, lenders, and other stakeholders interested in cattle feeding decisions. The objectives of this study were two-fold: 1) develop a spreadsheet model that could estimate the net...

The number of U.S. fed cattle marketed through a value based or grid marketing system is increasing dramatically. Most grids reward Choice or better quality grades and some pay premiums for red meat yield. The Choice-Select (C-S) price spread increased 55 percent, over $3/cwt between 1989-91 and...

The costs of corn- and soybean-based feeds compose a substantial proportion of the variable costs faced by both mainstream and emergent confined livestock producers. This research develops a method to provide a joint distribution of prices of corn and soybean meal at a future time. Black's 1976...

Mandatory price reporting legislation will make available to the public on a weekly basis information on terms of trade for forward contracts. The new information will provide marketing intentions details that were previously unavailable to agents in the fed cattle market. An experiment was...

Preconditioning calf programs, while not new, are becoming more prevalent. They provide benefits to cow-calf producers while adding value for feeder cattle buyers. However, questions remain regarding the marginal returns from marketing preconditioned calves exceeds the marginal costs for...

Federal government funding for public price reporting began in 1914. Since then, most public market reporting for livestock and meat has relied on voluntary participation by market participants. Populist support in 1999 led to passage of the Livestock Mandatory Reporting Act which replaced the...

Controlling a variety of feeder cattle characteristics, and market and sale conditions, we estimate that certified vaccinations claims along with at least 30 days weaning claims bring in a premium of $6.13/cwt, which is nearly two times of that for similar uncertified claims, compared to no...

Cointegration of Canadian and U.S. livestock prices points to the existence of market integration in the period 1996:1 to 2004:12 even though the trade flows of livestock and beef products were non-existent for many months in 2003 and 2004 (suggesting market segmentation) due to livestock/beef...

The economic value of public situation and outlook information has long been a subject of debate. The purpose of this study is to investigate the economic value of USDA reports in hog and cattle markets. The investigation is based on event study analysis, with the "events" consisting of the...

What are the general ideas behind a futures contract price and the concept of the Basis calculation? The Class 3 milk futures contract traded at the Chicago Mercantile present opportunities for you to forward price your milk if your milk is pooled in a multiple component market such as Federal...