Management
Nebraska Bound!
Selling February 22 at the
Nebraska Cattlemen’s Classic
Make plans to be with us in Kearney, Nebraska and take advantage
of the opportunity to add two top herd sire prospects that combine
superior performance and predictability to your program.
OLIM
Entertainer 794E
Sire: Wulfs Xcellsior X252X Dam: MAGS Ziel
2/24/2017 • Purebred
CED: 9 BW: 0.7 WW: 74 YW: 106 MK: 19 CEM: 4 SC: 0.78 ST: 7
Doc: 11 YG: -0.19 CW: 35 REA: 0.64 MB: 0.07 FT: -0.03 $MTI: 56.26
OLIM
Equalizer 793E
Sire: MAGS The General Dam: KEVN Beach Beauty 412B
2/14/2017 • 85% Lim-Flex
CED: 11 BW: -0.1 WW: 72 YW: 106 MK: 29 CEM: 10 SC: 0.47 ST: 0
Doc: 15 YG: -0.16 CW: 33 REA: 0.43 MB: 0.02 FT: -0.04 $MTI: 53.63
For more information and a sale catalog go to https://cattlemens.org/
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Limousin Inventory
Management System
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Your visit to view our program is always welcome.
Kevin & Julie • Caitlyn, Ashlyn & Collin Ochsner
30300 WCR 388 • Kersey, CO 80644
H: 970-351-6008 • M: 970-396-5525 • [email protected]
62 | FEBRUARY 2018
efficiency is unchanged. A good example is least cost
feed rations where ration composition can change, not
because the nutrient contribution of feedstuffs changes,
but simply due to changing values of feed ingredients.
Economic efficiency measures tend to focus on optimal
levels rather than physical maximums and minimums. For
example, dollars of return per cow will reign in excessive
focus on weaning weights by recognizing that some
means of increasing weaning weights, such as increasing
cow size, may be very expensive and not efficient at some
point. For many cow-calf operations the land investment
is the biggest component and the final assessment of
economic efficiency is returns per acre. This incorporates
physical animal components related to reproductive,
nutritional, and health productivity along with feed and
forage management plus output values and input costs.
Typically, a combination of technical and economic efficiency
measures are needed to manage an operation for maximum
economic returns. Technical efficiency measures are critical to
understand physical productivity and identify weaknesses or
failures in production systems. However, excessive focus on
technical efficiency can be detrimental. Economic efficiency
measures focus on optimal use of inputs relative to the value
of outputs. However, changes in output values or input
costs can lead, for example, to improved returns due solely
to changing market conditions while masking stagnant
or even declining physical productivity. It takes both to
ensure that the operation is moving in the right direction.
The first step is to measure productivity and input use in a
good record system. Then put those records to use. I