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Maintaining profitability in the cattle business
With recent record high fed cattle prices and corn half the price that it was months ago, it may seem like making money in the cattle business is a cinch. That’s not the case, says Missouri Extension Ag Business Specialist Wesley Tucker. Scarcely a day after fed steers hit $1.38 a pound, Tucker preached with more vigor than ever that high input costs can still stand in the way of profit. Even though corn’s gone down, feed is the biggest input of all, but fuel, fertilizer and land trim a lot from a cattlemen’s bottom line.
Especially in years where weather is conducive to good grass growth, the natural tendency is to want to grow, but according to what Tucker has learned from previous generations, cattlemen should resist the temptation to acquire more cows at the end of good grass year.
Tucker favors having the cow harvest grass instead of doing it mechanically, saving a pile on fuel and equipment.
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