Main Menu

Cow / Calf

What are these Tools?

Paragraph here describing what the Cow - Calf tools are and what they will help you do.

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.

Cow / Calf Tools

Price Forecasting

For a selected auction location and planned sales date, the tool provides the predicted basis and expected cash price, including confidence intervals. The tool also presents a pricing matrix to show the impacts of changes in the values of relevant corn and feeder cattle futures contracts.

Value of Gain - Stocker

The Stocker VOG tool uses BeefBasis analytics to forecast current and future local cash prices ($ per cwt) and values ($ per head) for a steer or heifer. First, select a beginning date and initial weight for the animal and then choose a projected rate of daily gain (ADG) and desired sale location for the price projections. Based on these inputs, the Stocker VOG tool calculates a projected local cash price for the animal at the beginning date and 6 dates in the future.

The future weight is calculated at each 30-day interval using the user-selected daily gain. (For example, a 500 pound animal with a daily gain of 2.0 would be projected to weigh 560 lbs. after 30 days, 620 after 60 days, etc.). Estimates of future prices and values incorporate information from deferred futures contracts and the future weight of the animal.

Each row of the table represents a 30-day period. The tool calculates and displays the total increase in value of the animal over the 30-day period (VOG Per Period) and the increase in value per pound gained by the animal (VOG Per CWT is equal to Total VOG divided by pounds gained). The muscling score, and frame score used in the calculations are the most common muscling and frame score for the auction yard you selected. It is also assumed that the lot contains 10 head.

The Stocker VOG tools allows the user to analyze and compare the value created by adding additional weight to cattle and marketing them at a future date. In combination with information about the cost of gain (COG), this information can help a producer decide whether and for how long it may be profitable to retain and feed their cattle.

Expected Value By Weight

This tool allows you to analyze the value of additional pounds realized at the time your cattle are sold. Set your expected date of sale and expected selling date. Choose the size of weight increments to use in your analysis. See how much additional value you should expect to receive for each increment of additional out (sale) weight beyond your expected selling weight.

Value of Gain - Backgrounder

For select states and auction locations, provide your lot details and expected buy and sell dates to obtain expected sales prices and corresponding value of gain projections across a range of nearby sales dates.

Ration Calculator

Find a ration that is both balanced, cost effective and produce the average daily gain needed can take a lot of time and effort. This tool helps the producer do these things. It also calculates the ration cost, quantities being fed, and the nutritional value each feed input adds to the total mix.

The feed list included in this ration has 166 feedstuffs, and each feedstuff has default nutritional values; however, a user with a feed report may change these values to reflect more accurately the feedstuffs nutritional value. To simplify things further, a user may save multiple rations for different lots of animals so they can come back later and review it.

Currently this tool does NOT figure a balanced ration for breeding, pregnant, or lactating animals and should only be used for animals that are being fed for weight gain.

This tool is for general use and should not replace your nutritionist.