Asking any veteran cattle producer about profits will likely elicit several “I remember back in …” stories. Cow-calf returns over variable costs were $121 per cow in 1979. That’s $503 per cow in today’s dollars. It’s also the highest return in the three cattle cycles (1979-90, 1990-2004 and 2004-14) prior to the current cycle, which started in 2014.
Profit means different things to different people and in different situations. A basic formula is profit equals revenue minus expenses. Revenue must exceed expenses to turn a profit. Deciding which expenses to include is the…
