![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Grazing400x400.jpg\")
\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\nNews <\/p>\n
Opportunities for producers to capitalize on a strong calf\u00a0market <\/p>\n
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Herd expansion may not be in the cards for some producers, but a livestock economist says there are still opportunities for operators to increase profitability.<\/p>\n
Kenny Burdine with the University of Kentucky tells Brownfield producers should keep one thing in mind as they are considering their options. \u201cThe goal is that you want to look back in five years and say, you know what, I used that opportunity wisely,\u201d he says.\u00a0 \u201cNot look back and say, man, I wish I hadn\u2019t made that decision.\u201d<\/p>\n
He says investing in genetics is a good place to start. \u201cYou tend to think about bulls, but it doesn\u2019t have to be bulls, right,\u201d he says. \u201cBut the idea being that how can I produce bigger calves? Can I produce more valuable calves at roughly the same cost per head? Then that makes me more profitable in the long run.\u201d<\/p>\n
Burdine says making investments in grazing systems can also provide additional value. \u201cThe average producer could probably lower their cost per head if they could have improved grazing systems,\u201d he says. \u201cRotationally graze and limit their dependence on stored feed during the winter.\u201d<\/p>\n
He says investing now is more beneficial in the future when the cattle market isn\u2019t as strong. \u201cWatering systems, setting up the ability to run cross fencing, paddocks, things like that to more efficiently use your forge base,\u201d he says. \u201cI think in most cases can lower your cost structure.\u201d<\/p>\n
Burdine says now is also the time to make strategic financial decisions. \u201cInterest rates were so low for so long that I think we kind of lost that understanding of how important working capital can be,\u201d he says.\u00a0 \u201cBecause the money was cheap, right?\u201d<\/p>\n
He says the lending environment is very different in today\u2019s economy. \u201cAnd now if I\u2019ve got some working capital, if I\u2019ve got some cash reserves that I can use to fund some of my typical purchases, so that I\u2019m not dipping into a line of credit at a much higher rate right now, there\u2019s a cost savings on that,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
Burdine says another way to lower the cost structure for operations is to pay down some debt with the current increase in income from significantly higher cattle prices.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"News Opportunities for producers to capitalize on a strong calf\u00a0market Herd expansion may not be in the cards…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":75646,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[28,112],"class_list":["post-75645","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-markets","tag-business","tag-markets"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75645","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=75645"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75645\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/75646"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=75645"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=75645"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=75645"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}