Bigger Cattle, Bigger Questions: Feed Costs, Corn Demand, and Pasture Lease Strategies
About this episode
The episode discusses the implications of increasing cattle carcass weights on corn demand and feed efficiency, as well as strategies for leasing cropland for pasture improvements.
This episode tackles two listener questions with significant implications for cattle producers. The first explores how increasing cattle carcass weights affect corn demand and feed efficiency. The discussion estimates that an average increase of 36 pounds in carcass weight requires roughly 257 additional pounds of corn per animal, adding up to a substantial amount nationally, although it represents less than 1% of total U.S. corn use. Despite declining feed efficiency and average daily gain as cattle get larger, feeding cattle to heavier weights can remain profitable because a greater proportion of the added weight ends up in the carcass rather than in non-marketable tissues. The hosts explain that heavier cattle help offset the effects of historically low cattle inventories by increasing total beef production without requiring more animals. This additional production helps meet strong consumer demand and moderates beef prices that might otherwise be even higher. The second topic focuses on leasing cropland for pasture when improvements such as fencing, water infrastructure, and forage establishment are required. Panelists emphasize that successful pasture lease agreements begin…
More episodes of Cattle Chat
- Is Graduate School Worth It? Navigating Career Goals, Curiosity, and Lifelong Learning
- Heat Stress, Screwworm Awareness, and Making Summer Employees Successful
- Adding Value and Managing Grass: Practical Decisions in Cow-Calf Operations
- Summer Research and Herd Management: From Vitamin Stability to Confinement Strategies
- Understanding Neurologic Cases in Cattle: Diagnosis, Causes, and Prevention
- Building Better Cows: Smart Heifer Development from Day One
Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Cattle Chat podcast page.