Decision Tools

Decision tools and calculators have been developed to assist decision making for beef producers. Some of these spreadsheets may contain macros that will need to be enabled to function correctly.  To download a spreadsheet, click on the link, select "save" and save it to a location on your computer. Then find the file on your computer and open it from that location.

Business Management and Marketing

Missouri Backgrounding Cattle Budget
Producers can use to estimate costs and returns for backgrounding cattle on a per head and per group basis. Additionally, a calculator can help estimate yardage cost for an operation.

Missouri Feeder Cattle Basis Calculator
Use to calculate the basis of the reported livestock auctions in the state of Missouri.


Cow-calf Marketing Evaluator
Use to determine whether to: sell calves at weaning, sell after a backgrounding period, background the calves and then own through finishing or send the calves directly to a feedyard and retain ownership through finishing.


Stocker Evaluator
Stocker operators can use to determine: return to ownership and management, purchase price to attain desired return and sale price to attain desired return. Instructions


Feeder Calf Evaluator
Cattle feeders can use to determine: return to ownership and management, purchase price to attain desired return and sale price to attain desired return. Instructions


Retained Ownership Evaluator
Producers can use to determine return to ownership and management and sale price to attain desired return. Instructions


Show-Me Premier Beef Producer Lease Sheet
Identify cost centers within a beef operation. Simulate the impact of managerial, financial or biological changes in the operation. Determine appropriate distribution of income from calves and sales within a lease agreement.


Backgrounding Profitmeter
The Backgrounding Profitmeters help determine the current profitability of backgrounding, given a set of production parameters. Users can model a current baseline versus planned and change the key drivers of average daily gain and stocking rate for each profitmeter.


Missouri Beef Budgets
Updated each year in November and available for both Northern and Southern Missouri.


Genetics/Bull Selection

Across Breed EPD Calculator
Microsoft Excel based worksheet to adjust a list of animals’ Expected Progeny Differences (EPD) from one breed base to another breeds using the USDA Meat Animal Research Centers Across Breed EPD Adjustment Factors released at the 2009 Beef Improvement Federation meeting.

Adjusted Birth Weight, Weaning Weight, and Yearling Weight Worksheet
Microsoft Excel based worksheet to compute age and age-of-dam adjusted birth, weaning and yearling weights for beef cattle using the standard Beef Improvement Federations equations and adjustment factors.

Qualitative Trait Inheritance Calculator
Microsoft Excel based worksheet to estimate the probability of animals having various genotypes and phenotypes for simply inherited traits (coat color and horn/polled status). Allows users to input genotypes of parents and provides estimates of genotype and phenotype frequencies for resulting progeny.


Nutrition

Mineral Feed Tag Evaluator
Used to evaluate commercial mineral mixes relative to NRC requirements using known mineral sources.


Trace Mineral Supplement Calculator
Used to create trace mineral premixes relative to defined specifications. Instructions


Mark Trump/Kenneth Suter Mineral Calculator
Least cost custom mineral formulation tool used in conjunction with forage and supplement analysis.


Nutrients

Feedval2
Nutrient value estimation using corn, soybean meal, limestone and dical as reference values. Enter prices for reference feeds and Feedval2 returns the value of nutrients (Net energy of lactation, crude protein, calcium and phosphorus) found in alternative feedstuffs relative to reference feeds. If feedstuffs can be purchased at prices lower than calculated values, nutrients are priced at a discount to reference feedstuffs.


Feedval3
Nutrient value estimation using corn, soybean meal, limestone and dical as reference values. Enter prices for reference feeds and Feedval3 returns the value of nutrients (Net energy of gain, crude protein, calcium and phosphorus) found in alternative feedstuffs relative to reference feeds. If feedstuffs can be purchased at prices lower than calculated values, nutrients are priced at a discount to reference feedstuffs.

 

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To read some of these publications, Acrobat Reader may be required on your computer. The Reader will allow you to read Portable Document Format (PDF) files. The Acrobat Reader is FREE.

 

For questions concerning this page or topics, please contact:
Justin Sexten State Extension Specialist - Beef Nutrition
Bob Weaber State Extension Specialist - Beef Genetics