Grass-fed and Organic Beef: Production Cost and Profit Potential

Grass-fed and Organic Beef: Production Cost and Profit Potential

Summary

Cooperating beef farmers and ranchers producing organic, grassfed and organic grassfed beef began data collection for costs of production and beef production parameters. Data included market animal weights at key times, animal inventories, feed use, grazing days and frequency of animal moves during the grazing season.  Costs of all inputs were recorded, on-farm inputs noted, and labor use tracked. Data cannot be summarized until after the end of the 2008 financial year. The initial, prototype case study of the Ryan and Gene Herman Farm in Iowa was developed. Six field tours were conducted on cooperating farms, with 367 participants.

Objectives/Performance Targets

Budget Development

We are working one-on-one with 30 beef producers in five states; Iowa, Nebraska, Wisconsin, South Dakota, and Kansas; for two years, 2008 and 2009, to organize and document the costs for production from breeding through sale of market animals in three specialty beef production streams: grass-fed or finished, organic grass-fed, and organic grain-fed.

We identified 12 farmers per state with the objective of these being evenly distributed across the three production streams. We expect to collect complete data sets for 10 of these farmers per state for a total of 30 records per year. Many producers in these production streams are calve-to-finish, but others we have identified specialize in cow/calf or the finishing period. In addition, we are documenting their production systems and the specific practices, genetics, and/or management techniques that enable them to sell into their market niche.

Case Study Development

We will prepare case study summaries of 14 of the participating farms to provide potential producers a cross section of management systems that do and can work. Case studies will include: the size of operations, type of enterprise, yearly schedule of production, grazing system used, additional feeds supplied, animal health program, and beef production statistics. We will also work to identify key factors for each operation that have led to, or are limiting, success.

Outreach plans for the three states include:  
Iowa: We will provide yearly project updates, one to two each year at the Practical Farmers of Iowa (PFI) Annual Conference, the Iowa Cattlemen’s Association Annual meeting, the Iowa Beef Expo, and/or the Iowa Organic Annual Conference. We will work with local media to provide periodic updates of project results. We will provide information and extend invitations to field events to reporters for the four major agricultural periodicals in the state: Agri News—Iowa Edition, Iowa Farmer Today, Farm News, and the Iowa Farm Bureau Spokesman.

Nebraska: The major outreach venue will be the Knox County Extension newsletter, the Educator Edition (www.knox.unl.edu/pubs/pub060118141353). This newsletter goes out to 1,200 cow calf producers. In addition, the information will also be available on the Knox County Extension Web site (www.knox.unl.edu). This site gets an average of 5,000 hits a month, of which three-fourths are for the newsletter.  In addition, information will be extended to the Norfolk Daily News, Nebraska Farmer, and 20 additional smaller radio stations and newspapers that receive University of Nebraska new releases. Project results will be presented at one to two meetings each year, which will include the local grazing series of meetings, the Nebraska Grazing Conference, the Midwestern Holistic Management Gathering, and the Nebraska Sustainable Agriculture Society annual meeting.

Wisconsin: Outreach plans will include summaries on the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture’s grazing and organic Web site as well as the University of Wisconsin’s Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems (CIAS) Web site and through traditional media outlets (the three statewide agricultural newspapers, etc.).  We also plan to make yearly presentations at the Wisconsin Grazing Conference and additional grazing and organic events around the state.

Regional and National Project Outreach

Publications:
Production Budgets – We will prepare production budgets for the three specialty beef production streams: grass-fed, organic grass-fed, and organic and provide profitability projections based on current prices offered. These will be available in all three states through the respective University Extension services.

Farm/Ranch Case Studies – Fourteen cases studies of farms and ranches will be shared online and at statewide and regional beef, grazing, and sustainable agriculture meetings.

Web delivery:
Both production budgets and Farm/Ranch Case studies will be available online at Extension Web sites in Iowa, Nebraska, and Wisconsin, and on the national Agricultural Marketing Resource Center (AgMRC) Web site (www.agmrc.org).

Press delivery:
With final project results, we will promote publication in The Stockman Grassfarmer, Wallace’s Farmer and Successful Farming magazines.

Conference presentations:
In addition, we will actively pursue opportunities to share the research results with others at the regional Upper Midwest Grazing, and Upper Midwest Organic Farming Conferences and at the national Grazing America Conference.

Outputs

Production Budgets: We will prepare budgets for each of the three production models, provide profitability projections based on these budgets and current price offerings. Production budgets will be available as Extension publications in the three states. Production budgets will be available online at three state-based Web sites and the national Agricultural Marketing Resource Center (AgMRC) Web site.  Outreach will include a minimum three research updates and six field days each year. Final project results will be presented at a minimum one regional and one national conference.

Case Studies: We will prepare profiles for 14 of the participating farms. Case studies will also be available online at three state-based Web sites and the national Agricultural Marketing Resource Center (AgMRC) Web site.  

Field Days: six field days will be conducted both years of the study across the three participating states. A projected 30 people will attend each field event for a total of 360 participants.

Accomplishments/Milestones

Budget Development

Cooperating beef producers began data collection and began weighing market animals for input to the data set. Recording forms were developed and farm visits made to all farms in the study to orient cooperators to the data needs throughout the year. Baseline inventory data was collected. Input costs will not be collected until after the end of the 2008 calendar year.

Case Study Development

The initial, prototype case study of the Ryan and Gene Herman Farm in Iowa was developed and shared with collaborators in other states.

Outreach

In summer and fall, six field tours were conducted on cooperating farms, There were 195 participants in Nebraska, 50 participants in Wisconsin, and 122 participants in Iowa for a total of 367 participants. Articles about organic and grassfed beef costs of production and the project appeared in one newsletter and four agricultural newspapers.

Impacts and Contributions/Outcomes

This was the initial year of the study for data collection and full data sets will not be compiled until after the end of the calendar year. There we no measurable impacts as a results of our work this year. We hope that Field Day participants and those that read newspaper features have a better understanding of grassfed beef production, but there was no cost of production information to share. Better understanding of the systems was about production techniques rather than of costs of production. Change in awareness or understanding of these production systems was not measured during this year.

Collaborators: