Managing A Feedlot

Fatting beef cattle in a feedlot management system is an effort to achieve a consistent supply of quality beef that meets market needs for premium quality. It allows producers to maintain production when lush pasture is not available, to achieve rapid growth with a balanced ration of grains and alfalfa-grass dry hay, to generate a year round cash flow, and to value-add ration components. Through good management, preventative veterinarian practices, and balanced rations, the cost per kilogram of weight gain can be less then the traditional feeding methods of feeding calves after weaning.

It is important to do a careful analysis to assess the viability of a beef feedlot before committing resources to an intensive feeding system. You need to pre-determine the profitability of a beef feedlot program. You need to know the feed requirements for a specified daily rate of gain, the cost of that feed daily, the market weight you are targeting, the estimated market price when finished, and the break-even costs to achieve a return on capital investment. In this unit we will consider various factors impacting on the effective management of a feedlot.