Choose a Category to Find Your Tool
- Animal Unit Month Value
- Break-Even Budget
- Bull Valuation Tool
- Cow & Ewe Valuation
- Cull Cow Marketing Tool
- Genetic Investment
- Gestation Calculator
- Partial Budget
- Price Slide
- Stocking Rate Tool
- Market Comparison
- Net Present Value (NPV)
For assistance with tools, contact Jedidiah Hewlett.
General Budgeting
Partial Budget
Partial Budget Tool
Test one change to your operation before you make it. Enter only what changes. The tool totals what you give up against what you gain and shows whether the change pays.
New to partial budgeting? Read the Partial Budget fact sheet (B-1304, PDF).
Costs of the change
Money out, or money you stop getting.
Benefits of the change
Money in, or money you stop spending.
- Total additional costs and reduced income
- $0.00
- Total additional income and reduced costs
- $0.00
- Net income or loss
- $0.00
Sensitivity analysis
What if prices or yields miss your estimate? Each cell is the net result when benefits move by the factor across the top and costs move by the factor down the side. The center cell is your budget as entered.
How the factors apply: “revenue” scales the full benefits total (additional income plus reduced costs), and “cost” scales the full costs total (additional costs plus reduced income). This matches the original Wyoming Master Stockman spreadsheet.
Net Present Value (NPV)
Net Present Value Analysis
Will an investment pay for itself, and when? Net present value (NPV) discounts each year's net return back to today's dollars, then adds them up. A positive cumulative NPV means the investment has paid back at your interest rate.
Constant costs and returns
The same annual cost and revenue every year for 15 years.
Costs and returns by year
Enter a different cost and revenue for each year in the table.
Econo-Range
Evaluate a rangeland improvement per acre. Revenue is the extra AUMs it produces each year, valued at what it would cost to lease comparable pasture.
How it is figured: year 1 includes the investment and is not discounted. Each later year is divided by (1 + interest rate) raised to the number of years after year 1. The break-even year is the first year cumulative NPV is no longer negative.
Livestock Tools
Gestation Calculator
Livestock Gestation Calculator
Enter the dates males went in and came out to see when births should start and end, plus other key dates: the start of the third trimester and peak lactation. Animals can be unpredictable. Use this as a general guide only.
Sheep and goats
150-day gestation, 17-day estrus cycle
- First lambs or kids
- Last lambs or kids
- Lambing season
- days
- Estrus cycles covered
- Third trimester begins47 days before first births
- Peak lactation20 days after first births
Cattle
283-day gestation, 21-day estrus cycle
- First calves
- Last calves
- Calving season
- days
- Estrus cycles covered
- Third trimester begins94 days before first calves
- Peak lactation60 days after first calves
Horses
340-day gestation, 21-day estrus cycle
- First foals
- Last foals
- Foaling season
- days
- Estrus cycles covered
- Third trimester begins113 days before first foals
- Peak lactation40 days after first foals
Estrus cycles covered is the length of the breeding season divided by the species' cycle length: how many chances each female had to settle.
Break-Even Budget
Break-Even Budget
Find the sale price you need to break even on holding livestock longer, using a partial budget. It works for any class or species. List what holding them costs, what you give up by not selling now, and what you save. The tool returns the break-even price per hundredweight.
Additional costs
What holding the livestock will cost.
- Total additional costs
Reduced income
The value of the livestock if you sold them now, plus interest on that money.
- Value of livestock today
- Interest
- Total reduced income
Reduced costs (savings)
Costs you avoid by holding them.
- Total savings
Addition Income
Use the head you expect to sell, after death loss.
- Total costs and reduced income
- Income needed to break even
- Break-even price
- /cwt
Sensitivity analysis
Break-even price if costs or savings miss your estimate. Costs move down the side, savings move across the top. Reduced income is held as entered. The center cell is your budget.
| Worst savings ×0.90 | Likely savings ×1.00 | Best savings ×1.10 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Worst cost ×1.10 | |||
| Likely cost ×1.00 | |||
| Best cost ×0.90 |
| Worst savings ×0.95 | Likely savings ×1.00 | Best savings ×1.05 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Worst cost ×1.05 | |||
| Likely cost ×1.00 | |||
| Best cost ×0.95 |
Interest = value of livestock today × rate × days held ÷ 365.
Bull Valuation Tool
Bull Valuation Tool
Estimate what a bull is worth to your herd. The value is the calf revenue he sires, minus the cost of the cows he covers, plus his cull value, all discounted back to today. It is shown for one to six years of service under three cattle-price outlooks.
Your herd
Estimated bull value
Discount rate used: %
| Years of service | Prices falling 2%/yr | Prices constant | Prices rising 2%/yr |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | |||
| 2 | |||
| 3 | |||
| 4 | |||
| 5 | |||
| 6 |
How the value is figured, for each year of service:
- Calf revenue = cows per bull × weaning rate × calf weight × calf price, minus annual cost per cow × cows per bull.
- The bull is sold as a cull at the end of his last year.
- Each year is discounted at the operating loan rate plus your desired return plus 3 percentage points, as in the original spreadsheet.
- Rising and falling prices change calf and cull prices by 2% of the starting price each year after the first.
Cow and Ewe Valuation Tool
Cow and Ewe Valuation Tool
Estimate what a bred cow or ewe is worth to your operation: the offspring she will raise, minus her annual cost, plus her cull value, discounted back to today. Values are shown by how many more calves or lambs she will produce, under three price outlooks.
Cows
Estimated cow value
| Calves remaining | Prices falling 5%/yr | Prices constant | Prices rising 5%/yr |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | |||
| 2 | |||
| 3 | |||
| 4 | |||
| 5 | |||
| 6 | |||
| 7 | |||
| 8 | |||
| 9 | |||
| 10 |
Ewes
Estimated ewe value
| Lamb crops remaining | Prices falling 5%/yr | Prices constant | Prices rising 5%/yr |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | |||
| 2 | |||
| 3 | |||
| 4 | |||
| 5 | |||
| 6 | |||
| 7 | |||
| 8 | |||
| 9 | |||
| 10 |
How the value is figured, for each year she stays in the herd:
- Offspring revenue = sale weight × price × weaning rate, minus her annual cost.
- She is sold as a cull after her last calf or lamb crop.
- Each year is discounted at the discount rate you enter.
- Rising and falling prices change offspring and cull prices by 5% of the starting price each year after the first.
Cull Cow Marketing Calculator
Cull Cow Marketing Calculator
Sell cull cows now, or feed them and sell later? This compares today's value with the value after a feeding period, using seasonal cull-cow price patterns and body condition score (BCS) price differences.
The cows today
- Value if sold today
- /hd
Feeding plan
- Expected final weight
- lbs
- Expected sale date
- Expected BCS
- Expected market price
- /cwt
- Value at end of feeding
- /hd
- Gross feeding margin
Feeding period costs
Per head, for the whole feeding period.
- Interest cost
- Death loss cost
- Total feeding period costs
- Net return to feeding
- Cost per pound of gain
- Break-even selling price
- /cwt
Summary
A cull cow with a BCS of weighing lbs is in the market class. At /cwt on , she is worth .
Fed for days at lbs a day, she would weigh lbs with a BCS of . On the expected price for the class is /cwt, making her worth .
Feeding costs come to , for a net return of per head.
How the projection works:
- Expected BCS rises one point for each gain equal to 6.4% of the cow's average weight over the feeding period, rounded to one decimal.
- Market class: BCS 3.0 to 4.0 is Cutter/Lean (85 to 90% lean), 4.5 to 5.0 is Boner (80 to 85% lean), 5.5 and up is Breaker (75 to 80% lean).
- The future price starts from today's price, adjusts for the seasonal cull-cow price pattern between this month and the sale month, then for the BCS price difference in the sale month.
- A projected BCS below 3.0 has no market class in the original tables. Its price still uses the lean-cow price difference.
Price Slide Calculator
Price Slide Calculator
See what a price slide does to a contract when cattle come in heavier or lighter than the contracted weight. All values are per head.
Contract
Results
- Projected value at contract weight
- Weight difference
- lbs
- Slide adjustment
- /cwt
- Adjusted final price
- /cwt
- Delivered value
- Value difference
- Break-even cost of gainValue difference per pound of difference
- /lb
Ram & Bull Investment
Bull / Ram Investment Tool
Is a better sire worth the extra money? This shows how much more each calf or lamb has to earn to pay back the higher purchase price, at a range of interest rates.
Your numbers
Results
- Extra cost of the better sire
Break-even analysis
Extra revenue needed to repay the added cost over the sire's working life, at each interest or discount rate.
| 3% | 5% | 7% | 9% | 12% | 18% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Additional annual revenue required | ||||||
| Revenue required per calf or lamb |
Annual revenue is the loan payment that would repay the extra cost over the years in service at each rate.
Stocking Rate
Stocking Rate Calculators
Four ways to work out how much grazing a pasture holds. Start from how it was used in the past, from known production, or from your own clip-and-weigh samples. One animal unit (AU) is a 1,000-lb animal, and one AUM is 800 lbs of forage.
1. Production from past use
- AU equivalent per head
- AUMs harvested
- AUMs per acre
- Pounds consumed per acre
- lbs
- Total production per acre
- lbs
2. Stocking rate
- AU equivalent per head
- Forage available for grazing
- lbs
- Head the pasture carries for 1 month
- Head for months
3. Grazing season length
- AU equivalent per head
- Forage available for grazing
- lbs
- Months of grazing
4. Clip and weigh
Clip the forage inside a hoop with a 93-inch circumference and weigh it in grams. Clip at least three spots that represent the pasture.
- Percent dry matter
- Average weight
- g
- Fresh forage per acre
- lbs
- Air-dry forage per acre
- lbs
- Take half, leave half
- lbs
- AUMs per acre
- Total AUMs
- Months of feed for
| Horses | Cows | Sheep | Goats |
|---|---|---|---|
Clip-and-weigh assumptions from the original tool: fresh pounds per acre = average grams × 20. Dry matter is 35% before heading out, 45% headed out, 60% seed ripe, 85% leaves dry and 95% at dormancy. Animal units: horse 1.25, cow 1, sheep 0.2, goat 0.15.
Animal Unit Month (AUM) Value
AUM Value
Estimate what an animal unit month (AUM) of grazing is worth, based on the value of the gain it produces. Use the yearling calculator for stockers, or the pairs calculator for cow-calf pairs.
Yearlings
One month of grazing, per head.
- Projected gain
- lbs
- Value in
- Value out
- AUMs per head
- Value created per AUM
- Lease value, 50% share
- Lease value, 33% share
Pairs
One month of grazing, per cow-calf pair.
- Projected calf gain
- lbs
- Calf value in
- Calf value out
- AUMs per pair
- Value created per AUM
- Lease value, 50% share
- Lease value, 33% share
Use these values as a starting point when negotiating a lease. Convenience, fencing, animal care, distance and other factors also shape the final price.
How the numbers work:
- Value out assumes the price drops $9/cwt for every 100 lbs gained.
- Yearling AUMs scale with weight in: 0.6 under 601 lbs, 0.7 to 700, 0.8 to 800, 0.9 to 900, then 1.0.
- Pair AUMs scale with cow weight: 1.0 under 1,050 lbs, then 1.1, 1.15, 1.2 and 1.25 in 100-lb steps, and 1.3 at 1,450 lbs and up.
Market Comparison Tool
Market Comparison Tool
Compare two ways to sell the same cattle. The tool subtracts shrink, trucking, commission and yardage to show what each market really pays.
The cattle
Market 1
Market 2
Results, per head
| Market 1 | Market 2 | |
|---|---|---|
| Gross revenue | ||
| Trucks needed | ||
| Adjusted revenue | ||
| Adjusted price | /cwt | /cwt |
How trucking is figured: trucks needed is head divided by trailer capacity, rounded up. A cost above $1/mile is treated as a hired-truck rate, one way. A cost of $1/mile or less is treated as a mileage rate (such as the IRS rate) and doubled for the round trip. Commission is charged on gross revenue, before shrink.
| Condition | Shrink |
|---|---|
| 8-hour drylot stand | 3.3% |
| 16-hour drylot stand | 6.2% |
| 24-hour drylot stand | 6.6% |
| 8 hours in moving truck | 5.5% |
| 16 hours in moving truck | 7.9% |
| 24 hours in moving truck | 8.9% |
Source: Roger Brownson, Shrinkage in Beef Cattle, Montana State University.
The University of Wyoming has earned its Research Level 1 (R1) status from the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, placing Wyoming's only four-year university with the top research universities in the United States.