Structural and Operational Characteristics of Nebraska and Kansas Feeder-Cattle Growing Operations

The beef cattle industry is experiencing a significant increase in demand for feeder cattle. Current difficulties in obtaining sufficient numbers of feeder cattle on a continuing basis have put pressures on the feeder cattle marketing system that did not exist in the past. Feedlot operators, growers (backgrounders), and cow-herd operators are looking for ways and means of improving the system. Innovations are being tested. Those circumstances prompted personnel of the Agricultural Experiment Stations of Kansas and Nebraska to undertake a joint study of cattle marketing under a Regional Research Project