Buy Sell Margins Calculator
The buy/sell margin (the difference between a feeder calf or yearling purchase price and a sale price at some later date) is a critical component in the profitability of beef cattle backgrounding and finishing systems. In fact, the margin can make or break a producer in a single year.
This program allows you to look at historical buy/sell margins for buy-sell periods that you select for steers, heifers, Holstein steers (Tennessee only), and finished cattle (Southern Plains). We have also included cull cows for Georgia only.
These historical buy/sell margins can give you some feel for the price risk exposure on purchased cattle as well as calves from a cow/calf program. The absolute buy/sell margins in dollars per hundredweight are one measure of price risk.
The BSM Calculator will calculate the minimum (worst), average, and maximum (best) buy/sell margins for the past 10 years (5 years for Holstein steers) based on your selections of both buying and selling months, state, sex, weight ranges, and grades.
University of Tennessee Extension and
University of Georgia Cooperative Extension Service
with support from The United States Department of Agriculture
Fund For Rural America program.
