SOUTHERN JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS DECEMBER, 1978 COMPARING MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS FOR BEEF CATTLE BACKGROUNDING: A MULTIDISCIPLINARY APPROACH

Beef cattle production gradually has become the line items in the budgets were prepared for more specialized with increasing separation of what in reality turned out to be very different activities among geographic regions and backgrounding systems. The systems often farmers. The research literature commonly were not well delineated and, in retrospect, identifies two tiers of production- (1) cow-calf only two or three systems had been considered. enterprises and (2) feedlot finishing [14, 19]. An Accordingly, the multi-disciplinary research intermediate tier- special feeding activities project was designed to evaluate costs and re-whose main functions are to assemble and turns comparatively for several actual systems grow out calves from a weaning weight to a of backgrounding. The project was conducted weight and condition ready for feedlot finish- (1974-76) partly in response to the aforemen-ing- has been operating for years. In recent tioned differences but, more importantly, in years, as these activities have become more light of the continuing importance of back-visible and distinct from the cow-calf or finish- grounding in Kentucky and similar midsouth ing enterprises, the name "backgrounding " producing regions. Two applied research objec-has come into common usage among producers tives were emphasized: (1) identification o