Calf-SCRAMBL: STRATEGIC COMPARISON OF REVENUE ALTERNATIVES FOR BOVINE LIVESTOCK

Calf-SCRAMBL was developed with the objective of improving techniques for managing price, revenue, and market risks by allowing the producer to compare several marketing alternatives early on and make an informed decision at harvest (weaning) time.

The interactive nature of the cost of production section of Calf-SCRAMBL allows the producer to better calculate his/her individualized total unit cost for the operation. This total unit cost will be expressed as dollars per hundredweight (to be consistent with cattle price quotes) and at the forefront in the decision-making process for marketing alternatives. By understanding his/her total unit cost, a producer can make a more informed decision when considering marketing options for their calves.

The Projection Analysis section allows the producer to evaluate expected revenues for various marketing options, while accounting for the additional costs associated with any such alternative. Since this is a separate segment of the Calf-SCRAMBL toolset, producers without access to production costs will have the ability to evaluate different marketing options on a marginal basis, or use the default production costs to obtain a better picture of the profitability of the various marketing strategies.

With Close-Out analysis, producers can see the comparison with actual year-end numbers, and are provided with a means to study the manner in which returns were calculated. This analysis can then be compared to the Pro Forma analysis to compare actual results with the projections. Finally, with the database already constructed, the producer will have the ability to query data from a year with similar market conditions as the current year to assess performance using the Close-Out analysis