Abstract
Price determinants for bulls, cows, and feeder cattle are well established in the literature but there has been little research on bred heifer price determinants and specifically the impact of feeder cattle prices on the purchase price of bred heifers. We estimated the impact of reproductive characteristics and feeder cattle prices on bred heifer prices for beef production. Data were obtained from a May and November bred heifer sale located in Kentucky and hedonic pricing models were estimated for bred heifers for each sale month. Prices for fall- calving heifers were influenced by number of months bred or expected calving date with longer bred heifers priced the highest. Purchase price of spring- calving heifers did not vary from five to seven months bred, but heifers four months bred were priced lower. Pregnancies resulting from artificial insemination did increase the value of fall-calving heifers but did not impact spring-calving heifer prices. Heifer feeder cattle prices the day of the sale positively influenced the price of spring- and fall-calving bred heifers. This extends previous research by considering the impact of feeder cattle prices on the price of bred heifers. The results can help cow-calf producers in making a more informed purchasing decision of replacement breeding animals.
Recommended Citation
Boyer, Christopher; Griffith, Andrew P.; Thompson, Jada M.; Rhinehart, Justin; Burdine, Kenneth H.; and Laurent, Kevin
(2020)
"Bred Heifer Price Determinants in the Southeast,"
Journal of Applied Farm Economics: Vol. 3
:
Iss.
2,
Article 2.
DOI: 10.7771/2331-9151.1042
Available at:
https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/jafe/vol3/iss2/2