It ’ s Time To Dial In On Cows Costs
by Amanda Radke
In the cattle business , producers work in breakeven points . It ’ s
critical to understand your inputs , anticipate fluctuates in prices and plan accordingly to take advantage of good times and weather through the challenging seasons .
Do you know what the average operating cost is per cow in the United States ? It ’ s $ 863 . That ’ s according to Olivia Amundson , South Dakota State University Extension cow-calf field specialist , who recently tackled the topic of how to best capitalize on cow costs to meet your business goals .
Amundson says of that $ 863 annual operating cost , 70 % of it is related to direct costs to run the cow including summer feed , winter pasture , veterinary care , medicine , etc .
She adds , that the average income per cow based off calf price and cull cow price is $ 798 per cow , for an economic loss of $ 65 per cow when considering all costs .
How do you fare compared to the average ? Ponder that question as you read through some of Amundson ’ s best tips for strategically decreasing cow costs .
In part one of a two-part series , she focuses on reducing the largest expense of the cow — her annual feed costs .
She says variable feeds include : “ Pasture production , hay production , purchased hay per cow , bull ( pasture and hay ), supplemental feed , salt and mineral , vet and med , reproduction ( AI ), labor , interest , marketing , land rent and any other miscellaneous expenses .”
Meanwhile , fixed costs include : “ Livestock facilities , equipment upkeep , pasture , hay machinery / equipment , purchased breeding stock , purchased heifers ( not bred ), and miscellaneous overhead . Fixed costs in general will be HIGHLY variable between operations .”
64 • JANUARY 2021