Economic results of finishing confined beef cattle at Sete Lagoas -MG

<p>This research had as an objective to analyze the profitability of the activity of beef cattle finished in confinement. Specifically, it was also intended to evaluate the effect of scale of production and price variations throughout the year on profitability, and identify the components of the total and operational effective costs that exercised higher representativeness on the production of 15 kg and to estimate the equilibrium point. The data collection took place from January, 2008 to December, 2009, in a production system of beef cattle finished in confinement, located in the municipal district of Sete Lagoas-MG. The profitability analysis was carried out by the Custo Bovino Corte® software, considering the gross and the liquid margin and the result (profit or loss) as indicators of economical efficiency. The gross and the liquid margins, and the result were positive in 2008, indicating that the production system has survival conditions over short, medium and long terms with consequent capitalization. In 2009, for presenting positive gross and liquid margins, the activity has survival conditions over short and medium terms; but, because of the negative results, this production system does not have survival conditions over long term because the farmer is decapitalizing itself. The components of total cost and total operational costs that exercised higher influence on the production of 15 kg were: animal acquisition, feeding and labor.