Friday, November 09, 2007

Cash flow and Profitability

I finally found a good chart that details a cow's cash flow. Many farmers percieve this and instincly know that a first calf heifer has only just paid for her upbringing. Notice that breakeven doesn't occur until about 32 months of age(provided that she mirrors the lactation cycles of this chart). In any dairy herd the mature herdmates actually generate a profit, whereas younger animals only provide cash flow.
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2 comments:

Anonymous said...

This graph is very informative. However, it is based on a certain level of assumptions is it not? It would be helpful to list these basic assumptions.
Awaiting these assumptions.
JDN

Matt said...

Naturally, my first assumption is that you are a dork. Knowing that, the graph is quite simple to interpret.

Another major assumption is that said animal doesn't experience any abnormalities, ie dystocia, mastitis, or death.

Also, volatile feed prices would cause the first part of to vary somewhat (she would have a larger negative cumulative number).

Thirdly, if it were a brown swiss, at 70 months she would just be getting warmed up.