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Cost Control
Beef Economics & Markets: 11 guides
- Big Ribeye or Brand CheckThe size limits cost cattlemen money when cattle outgrow the box, and the market keeps pushing weights up.
- Carcass to Case: Where the Pounds GoA cattleman's walk down the rail, from hot carcass to boxed beef, and where the money lands.
- Cutting Cost per Cow: Feed, Hay, Labor and Where the Money Really GoesMost cow-calf men know what calves sold for and not what each cow cost. Here is how to find your number and which line items are worth fighting over.
- Dark Cutters and Blood SplashTwo defects that cost you at the packer, and which one you can actually do something about.
- Feed Is the Big Check: Where Cost of Gain Really Comes FromIf you finish cattle, feed is the bill that decides whether you made money. Here is how to keep it in line.
- Heavy Cattle, Hard Limit: The Cost of Overshooting 1,100The brand's weight cap moved up, but a heavy steer can still cost you money.
- The Size Specs a Feeder Cannot IgnoreRibeye area, carcass weight and fat cover decide whether a good carcass pays like one.
- Prime Premium Per Head: What the Check Really SaysA reported number is not your number. Do the math on your own cattle before you chase it.
- Seaweed in the Feed Bunk: Does It Cut Methane and Does It Pay?Trials show real cuts. Whether it earns its keep on your place is a different question.
- Supplement When the Cow Needs It, Not When the Calendar Says SoFeed the nutrient she is short on, at the point in the year it matters, and quit paying for the rest.
- Too Much Fat on the Hide Side: Backfat and the CAB LineOne inch of backfat is the limit, and some cattle blow past it.