Predicting Animals in Feedlot That Produce Discounted Carcasses.

Managing risk is required for farm enterprises to be profitable. Contractual agreements - such as livestock leases - can be crafted to loan or transfer assets, while also sharing risk. The beef cow share agreement is one example that allows individuals with complimentary inputs to benefit from...

This paper compares feedlots that operate on a year round basis and buy feeder cattle and sell fed cattle every month with a common strategy for stock market investors, dollar cost averaging.

In recent years, narrow profit margins in the cattle feeding business have increased the necessity of effectively managing risk, but especially price risk. The live cattle futures market is an effective tool in price risk management; a fact that more Iowa cattle feeders are realizing. Some...

The purpose of this study was to determine if there was an advantage or disadvantage in making feeder pig placement decisions under a DCA method verses placing a constant number of feeder pigs each month.

This paper compares feeder pig operations that operate on a year-round basis with a common strategy for stock market investors, dollar cost averaging.

Non-Basin Technologies for Open Feedlot Runoff: Demonstration, Implementation and Modeling

Many producers question the profitability of backgrounding cattle before selling them. There are many variables tht can be part of a backgrounding program that can potentially impact the profitability of this venture. The purpose of this study was to determine when it is most profitable to...

In January 2005, the Iowa Beef Center, in conjunction with Iowa Cattlemen's Association, survey two groups of Iowa cattle producers regarding their current operation, how they receive information, and what they saw as the greatest opportunities and obstacles for the state's cattle sector.

Cattle feeding is an important value added enterprise on Iowa farms, while production efficiencies impact feedlot success, buying and selling prices are the largest determinant of cattle feeding profits. Because of seasonal fed and feeder cattle and corn price patterns, some months are more...