A Short-run Economic Analysis of Some Factors Influencing the Supply of Beef-cattle at Auctions in South-eastern Botswana, 1976-1980

Auction sales provide a major cattle marketing outlet for farmers in Botswana. There were 5,740 cattle auctioned in the South-eastern part of Botswana in 1976. This number represented 16% of the total export off-take from the area. The main market outlet for slaughter beef is through direct marketing of cattle to the Botswana Meat Commission (BMC) abattoir. The BMC, an export monopoly beef marketing board, sets prices and cattle buyers country-wide adjust them to derive producer prices, because they finally sell cattle to the BMC. The BMC price plays a major role in deriving producer prices at auction sales yards. There have been fluctuations in the supply of slaughter cattle in South-eastern Botswana, but little is known about the relative impacts of various factors hypothesized to be important in affecting the supply of cattle auctioned. In addition to BMC price changes, environmental and climatic factors are hypothesized to have some effects on the quality and quantity of cattle supplied at auction sales. In addition, the range condition, past and prevailing auction sales prices, subsistence cash needs and disease conditions, especially hoof and mouth disease, are postulated to affect the supply of beef animals auctioned. The nature of the impact of these factors on the supply of beef animals has only been casually addressed in other studies. An in-depth understanding of the effects of these factors on the supply of cattle at auction sales is required for the benefit of producers, buyers and the beef industry. Factors influencing the supply of beef animals at auctions need to be identified to serve as a basis for further research in beef marketing in South-eastern Botswana. Knowledge gained from this research can be disseminated to researchers and producers to gain further insights about an industry which is an integral part of Botswana\u27s economy. The general objective of this study is to analyze the supply of slaughter beef-cattle auctioned in South-eastern Botswana