Prospects for Winter Backgrounding 2024-2025

By Greg Halich | Associate Extension Professor and Kenny Burdine | Extension Professor
Published on Oct. 31, 2024

Tight cattle supply has largely driven cattle markets in 2024. Markets did see a small pullback in late summer but have actually improved counter-seasonally over the last few weeks. Calf prices are higher than they were this time last year and about $100 per cwt higher than they were in fall of 2022.

Butterfat Continues to be a Major Driver of Milk Value

By Kenny Burdine | Extension Professor
Published on Apr. 29, 2024

Kentucky dairy producers are ultimately paid based on the amount of skim milk and butterfat they produce. Needless to say, these two values greatly impact returns for dairy operations and the impact of butterfat has gotten larger over time.

Stocker Outlook for 2024

By Greg Halich | Associate Extension Professor and Kenny Burdine | Extension Professor
Published on Mar. 28, 2024

Temperatures are getting warmer, the grass is getting greener, and the calf market is starting to take off.  These are tell-tale signs of spring in Kentucky, and we are experiencing all three.

Cow-Calf Profitability Estimates for 2023 and 2024 (Spring Calving Herd)

By Greg Halich | Associate Extension Professor, Jonathan Shepherd | Extension Specialist, and Kenny Burdine | Extension Professor
Published on Feb. 28, 2024

The purpose of this article is to examine cow-calf profitability for a spring calving herd that sold weaned calves in the fall of 2023 and provide an estimate of profitability for the upcoming year, 2024.  Table 1 summarizes estimated costs for a well-managed spring-calving cowherd for 2023.  Every operation is different, so producers should eva

U.S. Beef Cow Inventory Continues to Decline

By Kenny Burdine | Extension Professor
Published on Feb. 2, 2024

USDA-NASS released their January 2024 cattle inventory estimates on the afternoon of January 31st. Estimates came in pretty close to expectations and confirmed that the cowherd had continued getting smaller during the course of 2023. It was really a question of how much contraction had occurred.

Beef Enterprise Budgets

By Greg Halich | Associate Extension Professor, Kenny Burdine | Extension Professor, and Steve Isaacs | Extension Professor
Published on Nov. 1, 2023

This publication contains budgets for production of selected livestock enterprises in Kentucky. The purpose of these budgets is to serve as a management and decision-making guide for current and prospective producers of these enterprises. 

Prospects for Winter Backgrounding 2023-2024

By Greg Halich | Associate Extension Professor and Kenny Burdine | Extension Professor
Published on Oct. 30, 2023

After several years of cattle selling at frustratingly low price levels, continued herd liquidation has led to tight supplies and much higher calf prices in 2023.  While markets have pulled back in recent weeks, calves and heavy feeders are moving at prices $50 to $70 per cwt above what was seen a year ago.

Dairy Margin Coverage Provides Some Help in Challenging Milk Market

By Kenny Burdine | Extension Professor
Published on Jul. 28, 2023

Dairy producers continue to struggle with decreasing farm-level milk prices and high feed costs. For the first five months of 2023, the US All Milk price averaged $21.16 per cwt, which was more than $4 per cwt lower than the first five months of 2022. In fact, US All Milk dropped below $20 per cwt in May for the first time since October 2021.

Stocker Outlook for 2023

By Greg Halich | Associate Extension Professor and Kenny Burdine | Extension Professor
Published on Mar. 30, 2023

Spring has officially arrived in the Commonwealth, which always brings questions about stocker profitability.  Calf prices typically increase seasonally as we move into spring, but have increased at a larger-than-normal rate since the end of 2022.

Cow-Calf Profitability Estimates for 2022 and 2023 (Spring Calving Herd)

By Greg Halich | Associate Extension Professor, Jonathan Shepherd | Extension Specialist, and Kenny Burdine | Extension Professor
Published on Feb. 28, 2023

The purpose of this article is to examine cow-calf profitability for a spring calving herd that sold weaned calves in the fall of 2022 and provide an estimate of profitability for the upcoming year, 2023.  Table 1 summarizes estimated costs for a well-managed spring-calving cowherd for 2022.  Every operation is different, so producers should eva