Revenue is equal to price multiplied by weight, and profit is equal to revenue minus feeding and initial costs. To maximize profit on a pen of cattle, selling weight and feeding costs need to be considered, in addition to selling price. Consider a pen of cattle that if fed for the normal number of days on feed would finish with the majority of the carcasses at yield grade 3 and about 60 to 65 percent choice or higher. There would most likely be more yield grade 1 and 2 carcasses, the cattle should still grade 55 to 60 percent choice, and it is likely that the net grid price would be higher than the cash market price. Feeding for fewer days would result in selling lighter weight carcasses.
Revenue is equal to price multiplied by weight.
Two weeks fewer days on feed would probably reduce carcass weight by 25 to 35 pounds. The point is that producers need to consider more than price when changing the feeding program to fit a grid. It should be noted, the higher the general carcass price, the more critical the carcass weight becomes. A similar analysis needs to be done if a producer is considering feeding cattle longer than normal to improve quality grade for a grid. Normally, the quality grade may not increase that much and there will be a larger number of yield grade 4 carcasses and fewer yield grade 1 and 2 carcass.