Do not use costs of production to price forages to the beef cows, as this distorts the beef cow profits. Include only cows held for calving do not include any 1996 cull cows that you held back in the fall of 1996 to sell on a higher cull cow market in the first quarter of 1997. Northern Plains Benchmark Herds ranged from a low of 12 cows to a high of 3,437 and averaged 233 cows held for calving as of Jan. 1, 1997. This suggests that the smaller herds typically had higher costs. One of the key economic factors for any beef cow herd is the capital invested.
Capital investment is based on fair market value of the assets.
It does not include farming machinery or farmland investments. It does include a prorated machinery investment for feeding and caring for the cows. These benchmark herds are operated by ranchers who rent some or all of their pasture land, and even ranchers who rent or lease all or part of their cows. Higher-cost herds tend to have more debt per cow. Average steer prices are based on Northern Plains market prices for October 1996.