Cow-Calf Profitability Estimates for 2021 and 2022 (Spring Calving Herd)

By Greg Halich | Associate Extension Professor, Jonathan Shepherd | Extension Specialist, and Kenny Burdine | Extension Professor
Published on Feb. 28, 2022

The purpose of this article is to examine cow-calf profitability for a spring calving herd that sold weaned calves in the fall of 2021 and provide an estimate of profitability for the upcoming year.  Table 1 summarizes estimated costs for a well-managed spring-calving cowherd for 2021.  Every operation is different, so producers should evaluate

Reducing Your Dependency on Commercial Fertilizers Strategies for Cattle Farms in 2022 and Beyond

By Greg Halich | Associate Extension Professor
Published on Feb. 28, 2022

Fertilizer prices have risen to all-time high levels in the last few months.  Table 1 shows these increases over the last year for the most common commercial fertilizer sources used by cattle farmers.  Nitrogen and potassium fertilizers have both more than doubled over the last year.   

2022 Tobacco Budgets

By Will Snell | Extension Professor
Published on Feb. 28, 2022

The 2022 Kentucky-Tennessee tobacco budgets for burley, dark air-cured, dark fire-cured, cigar wrapper tobaccos are now available for download on our 

Impact of Government Payments

By Jerry Pierce | KFBM Program Coordinator
Published on Feb. 28, 2022

How important is a new farm bill? That depends on a number of factors like what you grow, where you farm, and what happens during a year to trigger payment to you. What impact have farm bills and other government programs had on Kentucky farms in terms of profitability over the last decade? They appear to have had a considerable effect.

Beef Cattle Numbers Continue to Decline

By Kenny Burdine | Extension Professor
Published on Feb. 22, 2022

USDA-NASS released their January 1, 2022 cattle inventory estimates on January 31st. Beef cow slaughter was significantly higher in 2021, so expectations were for continued contraction of cattle inventory. The USDA report confirmed that and provided some perspective on the magnitude of these decreases.

IRS Extends March 1 Filing Date for Kentucky Farmers Affected by December Tornadoes

By Jerry Pierce | KFBM Program Coordinator
Published on Feb. 1, 2022

The Internal Revenue Service has announced that certain farms affected by the December 10th severe storms and tornadoes now have until May 16, 2022 to file 2021 returns and pay tax due.

Price Risk Management Tools for Cattle Producers

By Kenny Burdine | Extension Professor
Published on Jan. 28, 2022

The last few years are unlikely to be remembered fondly by many cattle producers. Large cattle supplies, a global pandemic, weather challenges, and a sharp increase in feed prices have all impacted feeder cattle values. However, 2022 has brought optimism for a significantly better cattle market.

Demand for Certified Kitchen Use Nationally and in Kentucky

By Camille Stevens | Extension Associate
Published on Jan. 28, 2022

Many Certified Kitchens saw a shock to their system and a halting of kitchen rentals and revenue as COVID-19 made its impact.

The Dairy Gauge Benchmarking Tool

By Jerry Pierce | KFBM Program Coordinator
Published on Jan. 28, 2022

Benchmarking compares your farm’s performance to past performance or to established measures of success. The benchmark is some measure of a goal, or a range of what is desirable and what is not. You do this all the time, comparing this year’s yields to past years or this cow’s performance to others in the herd.

Inflation – “Good” or “Bad” for Agricultural Producers and Consumers?

By Will Snell | Extension Professor
Published on Jan. 28, 2022

Inflation has been headline news for several months and certainly an issue impacting all businesses, industries, and all of us as consumers.