What Enterprise is Sustainable for Me?
Beef
To evaluate how well this enterprise aligns with your farm's agronomic, marketing, financial and management resources, answer these five questions. Then, calculate your score.
Using a scale from 0 to 100, scores indicate your farm's likely success with an enterprise.
The following questions are relevant to cow-calf production.
The icons link to resources you can use to answer these questions.
QUESTIONS
HELP ME ANSWER THIS
1. Beef cattle require feed and water to gain weight, maintain their body condition and maximize productivity. Do you have access to adequate acreage or enough feed — for example, pasture, hay, minerals and supplements — and clean water at a reasonable cost to allow you to economically meet your herd’s nutrition needs?
Yes
No
No
2. Maintaining a short calving period — roughly 60 days or less — will optimize on-farm labor, yield an even calf crop and encourage better overall herd performance. Adopting management practices such as having a separate bull pasture, culling cows that don’t rebreed on time or lose calves and selecting capable bulls can help to shorten the calving period. Another alternative is to use synchronized artificial insemination, which is proven to coordinate calving time but does require a cleanup bull. Will you commit to management practices such as these?
Yes
No
No
3. Cattle producers have contact with animals when they breed cows through artificial insemination, sort animals, vaccinate animals or provide other care and separate cows from calves. The handling system — for example, facilities, pens and chutes — an operation chooses should maximize labor effort and keep handlers and animals safe. Are you willing to invest in the appropriate handling systems, or know of a source, for your operation?
Yes
No
No
4. Live animals and meat are the two main products sold by beef cattle operations. Buyers for these products include other cattle producers, feedlots, consumers and retail stores. For the product(s) you intend to sell, have you identified a market willing to pay a price that allows you to profit?
Yes
No
No
5. For cattle operations, veterinarians supply vaccinations, assist cows during calving, prescribe medications and provide animal health knowledge. Does a qualified large-animal veterinarian serve your local area?
Yes
No
No
Your ResultsX
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Respond to the questions for an enterprise. Each question touches on a key factor that affects an enterprise's sustainability on your farm.2 of 3
Icons to the side of questions direct to other decision tools that share detailed information about a question's topic.3 of 3
After completing all questions for an enterprise, calculate your score. A pop-up page will share your results. Scores closer to 100 suggest the enterprise would align well with your farm. Scores closer to 0 suggest the enterprise would not fit as well, based on your responses to the questions.