The operating costs for farms and ranches in the United States have increased 81 percent between 1970 and 1976. Calf prices over this same period have fluctuated dramatically and have fallen from a high of $58/cwt in 1973 to a low of $2 6/ cwt in 1975. Since 1973, the increasing operating costs have exceeded the returns gene rated by the low calf prices and have left operators in a negative financial position. This case study has shown that the operator has increased both the scale and efficiency of his operation through improved lives tock husbandry and range improvements , yet has been unable to keep up with the increase in operating costs. A res t rot at ion grazing system and associated range improvements were implemented in 1970 on the summer mountain range. The resultant increase in forage prod uction allowed a 45 percent increase in the breeding herd. The meadow hayland and crested wheat grass pastures were also improved to provide winter and spring forage for the increased number of cows. The calf crop weaned and average weaning weights increased from 86 percent and 347 pound s i n 1970 to 93 percent and 363 pounds i n 1976. The total pounds of calf weaned increased 60 percent between 1970 and 1976. The tremendous increase in beef production was offset by the rampant increase in op e rating costs. The net return in 1970 was $2 , lOo but dropped to a loss of - $3,671 i n 1976. However, had the operator not increased the level of production while the operating costs increased, his net loss in 1976 would have been - $24 , 718 . Although the net returns a re negative , the increase in returns over the base level of production is positive. The internal rate of return and net present worth of the grazing system and its associated improvements was 25 percent and $95 ,027 respectively. TI1 e operator has been successful in developing his range and livestock resource and increasing calf production. It is paradoxical that the increase in returns above the base production have rendered the improvements economically profit able yet the combination of increasing operating costs and low livestock prices have produced a negative return from 1974 through 1976.

The goal of a cow-calf producer is to produce a calf each year per cow. Research suggests that first year heifers struggle breeding back with their second calf because of the adjustments to new range/main herd conditions and the partitioning of nutrients between gaining weight, milk production, and gestation. This study was conducted at the V-V ranch at the University of Arizona for five years and looked at the effects on young cows when calves were weaned from first year heifers at 80 days rather than 205 days. Early weaning allows for gestational benefits because they are given the opportunity to adapt to herd conditions by applying feed resources to the in utero fetus and their own body condition rather than lactation. All first year heifers were included over three years, and were randomly assigned to two groups, normal weaning (NW) or early weaning (EW). This resulted in 122 heifers in the group whose calves were EW and 119 heifers in the group whose calves were NW. Heifers that were in the EW group bred back at a 27% higher rate in their second year, and had 15% greater longevity in the herd. Calves that were in utero when the nursing calves were early weaned were 16.4 kg heavier at weaning. Part of this was due to the age of the calf and part to gestational health. Early weaning was an effective strategy for improving reproductive performance of first year heifers as well as their survival rate in the herd to 5 years of age. It also resulted in improved performance for their in utero calves.

Este trabalho propõe uma metodologia para auxiliar o empresário rural no momento de decidir qual a tecnologia menos arriscada para aumentar a taxa de prenhez em seu sistema de produção de bezerros. Para tanto, foram avaliadas as percepções de especialistas quanto a sete fatores a partir dos quais foi desenvolvida uma equação para calcular este risco. Tais parâmetros e suas definições foram apresentados em questionários aos 18 especialistas, selecionados por amostragem não probabilística. Neste documento foram listadas 32 tecnologias, avaliadas de acordo com os parâmetros conforme a escala Likert de cinco níveis. Foram utilizados os parâmetros relacionados diretamente ao risco das tecnologias, atribuindo-se um valor conforme a nota dos especialistas, de forma a ajusta-las conforme sua influência no risco, se positiva ou negativa. Não houve diferença significativa entre o risco calculado e o estimado pelos especialistas, além de ambos apresentarem alta correlação, validando esta metodologia. As tecnologias de insumo se apresentaram mais arriscadas, indicando custo, complexidade operacional e conhecimento técnico mais elevados do que as de processo. Da mesma forma, as tecnologias de manejo demonstraram menor risco em relação às nutricionais e reprodutivas, que não apresentaram diferença entre si. As tecnologias consideradas inovadoras foram mais arriscadas do que as consolidadas, apresentando todos os parâmetros mais elevados, com exceção da flexibilidade. Dessa forma, a metodologia desenvolvida foi capaz de determinar o risco das tecnologias, obtendo resultados semelhantes às percepções dos especialistas. / This study proposes a methodology to assist the farmers in deciding which technology is less risky to reduce the inefficiencies of their cow-calf production. Thus, were evaluated the perceptions of experts about seven factors predetermined from which were developed a formula to calculate this risk. These parameters and their definitions were reported in questionnaires to 18 experts, selected by nonprobability sampling. This document listed 32 technologies evaluated according to the parameters in the Likert scale of five levels. Were used the parameters directly related to the risk, assigning a value to the experts notes, in order to adjust these as their influence on the risk, whether positive or negative. There was no significant difference between the calculated and the estimated risks; they also had a high correlation, validating this methodology. The innovative technologies were more risky, indicating cost, operational complexity and technical knowledge higher than the process technologies. Likewise, the management technologies showed less risk than the nutritional and reproductive ones, which appear to have no difference among them. The innovative technologies were riskier than the consolidated ones, with all the standards higher, with the exception of flexibility. The methodology was able to determine the risk of technologies, obtaining similar results to the perceptions of the experts.

Este trabalho propõe uma metodologia para auxiliar o empresário rural no momento de decidir qual a tecnologia menos arriscada para aumentar a taxa de prenhez em seu sistema de produção de bezerros. Para tanto, foram avaliadas as percepções de especialistas quanto a sete fatores a partir dos quais foi desenvolvida uma equação para calcular este risco. Tais parâmetros e suas definições foram apresentados em questionários aos 18 especialistas, selecionados por amostragem não probabilística. Neste documento foram listadas 32 tecnologias, avaliadas de acordo com os parâmetros conforme a escala Likert de cinco níveis. Foram utilizados os parâmetros relacionados diretamente ao risco das tecnologias, atribuindo-se um valor conforme a nota dos especialistas, de forma a ajusta-las conforme sua influência no risco, se positiva ou negativa. Não houve diferença significativa entre o risco calculado e o estimado pelos especialistas, além de ambos apresentarem alta correlação, validando esta metodologia. As tecnologias de insumo se apresentaram mais arriscadas, indicando custo, complexidade operacional e conhecimento técnico mais elevados do que as de processo. Da mesma forma, as tecnologias de manejo demonstraram menor risco em relação às nutricionais e reprodutivas, que não apresentaram diferença entre si. As tecnologias consideradas inovadoras foram mais arriscadas do que as consolidadas, apresentando todos os parâmetros mais elevados, com exceção da flexibilidade. Dessa forma, a metodologia desenvolvida foi capaz de determinar o risco das tecnologias, obtendo resultados semelhantes às percepções dos especialistas. / This study proposes a methodology to assist the farmers in deciding which technology is less risky to reduce the inefficiencies of their cow-calf production. Thus, were evaluated the perceptions of experts about seven factors predetermined from which were developed a formula to calculate this risk. These parameters and their definitions were reported in questionnaires to 18 experts, selected by nonprobability sampling. This document listed 32 technologies evaluated according to the parameters in the Likert scale of five levels. Were used the parameters directly related to the risk, assigning a value to the experts notes, in order to adjust these as their influence on the risk, whether positive or negative. There was no significant difference between the calculated and the estimated risks; they also had a high correlation, validating this methodology. The innovative technologies were more risky, indicating cost, operational complexity and technical knowledge higher than the process technologies. Likewise, the management technologies showed less risk than the nutritional and reproductive ones, which appear to have no difference among them. The innovative technologies were riskier than the consolidated ones, with all the standards higher, with the exception of flexibility. The methodology was able to determine the risk of technologies, obtaining similar results to the perceptions of the experts.

Este trabalho propõe uma metodologia para auxiliar o empresário rural no momento de decidir qual a tecnologia menos arriscada para aumentar a taxa de prenhez em seu sistema de produção de bezerros. Para tanto, foram avaliadas as percepções de especialistas quanto a sete fatores a partir dos quais foi desenvolvida uma equação para calcular este risco. Tais parâmetros e suas definições foram apresentados em questionários aos 18 especialistas, selecionados por amostragem não probabilística. Neste documento foram listadas 32 tecnologias, avaliadas de acordo com os parâmetros conforme a escala Likert de cinco níveis. Foram utilizados os parâmetros relacionados diretamente ao risco das tecnologias, atribuindo-se um valor conforme a nota dos especialistas, de forma a ajusta-las conforme sua influência no risco, se positiva ou negativa. Não houve diferença significativa entre o risco calculado e o estimado pelos especialistas, além de ambos apresentarem alta correlação, validando esta metodologia. As tecnologias de insumo se apresentaram mais arriscadas, indicando custo, complexidade operacional e conhecimento técnico mais elevados do que as de processo. Da mesma forma, as tecnologias de manejo demonstraram menor risco em relação às nutricionais e reprodutivas, que não apresentaram diferença entre si. As tecnologias consideradas inovadoras foram mais arriscadas do que as consolidadas, apresentando todos os parâmetros mais elevados, com exceção da flexibilidade. Dessa forma, a metodologia desenvolvida foi capaz de determinar o risco das tecnologias, obtendo resultados semelhantes às percepções dos especialistas. / This study proposes a methodology to assist the farmers in deciding which technology is less risky to reduce the inefficiencies of their cow-calf production. Thus, were evaluated the perceptions of experts about seven factors predetermined from which were developed a formula to calculate this risk. These parameters and their definitions were reported in questionnaires to 18 experts, selected by nonprobability sampling. This document listed 32 technologies evaluated according to the parameters in the Likert scale of five levels. Were used the parameters directly related to the risk, assigning a value to the experts notes, in order to adjust these as their influence on the risk, whether positive or negative. There was no significant difference between the calculated and the estimated risks; they also had a high correlation, validating this methodology. The innovative technologies were more risky, indicating cost, operational complexity and technical knowledge higher than the process technologies. Likewise, the management technologies showed less risk than the nutritional and reproductive ones, which appear to have no difference among them. The innovative technologies were riskier than the consolidated ones, with all the standards higher, with the exception of flexibility. The methodology was able to determine the risk of technologies, obtaining similar results to the perceptions of the experts.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:26:07Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2008-03-28Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T20:33:50Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 monsalves_fm_me_jabo.pdf: 241550 bytes, checksum: 6693d5417f93dcd0ccd8d78b3166fcd2 (MD5) / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / Os objetivos do presente trabalho foram calcular o valor econômico (VE) da característica taxa de prenhez de novilhas precoces e não precoces, em sistemas de produção de carne, com diferentes idades à primeira cobertura (14, 18 e 24 meses), supondo-se diferentes taxas de prenhez (20%, 30% e 40%) e diferentes épocas de descarte, além de, mediante a metodologia do fluxo de genes, avaliar o impacto do melhoramento desta característica em um rebanho, na obtenção de ganho genético para outras características. Foi utilizado um modelo bio-econômico para o cálculo do desempenho do rebanho, das receitas e custos de um sistema de produção utilizando animais da raça Nelore. O VE foi obtido aumentando-se em 1% a taxa de prenhez das novilhas precoces e não precoces, mantendo-se os níveis das demais características constantes. O fluxo gênico foi calculado considerando que a) as fêmeas entraram em reprodução entre 24 e 36 meses de idade e b) as fêmeas entraram em reprodução entre 12 e 24 meses de idade. Expressos com base no rebanho, os VE para a taxa de prenhez de novilhas variou de - R$ 3.652,17 a R$ 7.353,33. O VE foi maior quando as novilhas foram expostas aos touros aos 14 meses, indicando que a adoção desse manejo reprodutivo pode ser financeiramente compensadora. Quando as fêmeas entraram em reprodução entre 12 e 24 meses, a estabilização da proporção dos genes oriundos das fêmeas selecionadas ocorreu após 34 anos, fixando-se em 0,1322, enquanto que, se estas fêmeas tivessem iniciado a reprodução entre 24 e 36 meses, este tempo aumentaria para 44 anos fixando-se em 0,1045... / The aim of the present work was to calculate economic values for the pregnancy rate of Nellore heifers (precocious and not precocious), for cowcalf production systems, starting reproductive life at 14, 18 and 24 months, assuming differents pregnancy rates (20%, 30% and 40%) and differents culling periods. It was also evaluated the impact of improvement of this trait on the genetic and economic gain of other hipothetical traits in a population, using the gene flow methodology. A bio-economic model was used to calculate herd performance, revenues and costs of the beef production system. The economic values (EV) were obtained by increasing in 1% the original pregnancy rate of precocious and not precocious heifers, keeping the level of the other traits constant. The gene flow were calculaded considering the precocious and non precocious heifer production systems. When expressed on herd basis, the EV ranged from - R$ 3652.17 to R$ 7353.33. The highest EV was obtained when heifers were exposed to sires at 14 months of age. This result suggests that the adoption of such reproductive management may be economically compensating. The gene flow study showed that when females entered in reproduction between 12 and 24 months, gene proportions were estabilized after 34 years, fixing in 0.1322. If these females had started reproduction between 24 and 36 months, this estabilization period would be increased to 44 years, fixing in 0.1045. Assuming a genetic-economical superiority for a given trait of interest, expressed in both males and female of R$ 30.00, the genetic economical gain would be obtained in a shorter time and the expected response after one round of selection would have a greater magnitude in the first case (R$ 3.97) when compared with the second case (R$ 3.13)... (Complete abstract, click electronic access below)

Resumo: Os objetivos do presente trabalho foram calcular o valor econômico (VE) da característica taxa de prenhez de novilhas precoces e não precoces, em sistemas de produção de carne, com diferentes idades à primeira cobertura (14, 18 e 24 meses), supondo-se diferentes taxas de prenhez (20%, 30% e 40%) e diferentes épocas de descarte, além de, mediante a metodologia do fluxo de genes, avaliar o impacto do melhoramento desta característica em um rebanho, na obtenção de ganho genético para outras características. Foi utilizado um modelo bio-econômico para o cálculo do desempenho do rebanho, das receitas e custos de um sistema de produção utilizando animais da raça Nelore. O VE foi obtido aumentando-se em 1% a taxa de prenhez das novilhas precoces e não precoces, mantendo-se os níveis das demais características constantes. O fluxo gênico foi calculado considerando que a) as fêmeas entraram em reprodução entre 24 e 36 meses de idade e b) as fêmeas entraram em reprodução entre 12 e 24 meses de idade. Expressos com base no rebanho, os VE para a taxa de prenhez de novilhas variou de - R$ 3.652,17 a R$ 7.353,33. O VE foi maior quando as novilhas foram expostas aos touros aos 14 meses, indicando que a adoção desse manejo reprodutivo pode ser financeiramente compensadora. Quando as fêmeas entraram em reprodução entre 12 e 24 meses, a estabilização da proporção dos genes oriundos das fêmeas selecionadas ocorreu após 34 anos, fixando-se em 0,1322, enquanto que, se estas fêmeas tivessem iniciado a reprodução entre 24 e 36 meses, este tempo aumentaria para 44 anos fixando-se em 0,1045...(Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: The aim of the present work was to calculate economic values for the pregnancy rate of Nellore heifers (precocious and not precocious), for cowcalf production systems, starting reproductive life at 14, 18 and 24 months, assuming differents pregnancy rates (20%, 30% and 40%) and differents culling periods. It was also evaluated the impact of improvement of this trait on the genetic and economic gain of other hipothetical traits in a population, using the gene flow methodology. A bio-economic model was used to calculate herd performance, revenues and costs of the beef production system. The economic values (EV) were obtained by increasing in 1% the original pregnancy rate of precocious and not precocious heifers, keeping the level of the other traits constant. The gene flow were calculaded considering the precocious and non precocious heifer production systems. When expressed on herd basis, the EV ranged from - R$ 3652.17 to R$ 7353.33. The highest EV was obtained when heifers were exposed to sires at 14 months of age. This result suggests that the adoption of such reproductive management may be economically compensating. The gene flow study showed that when females entered in reproduction between 12 and 24 months, gene proportions were estabilized after 34 years, fixing in 0.1322. If these females had started reproduction between 24 and 36 months, this estabilization period would be increased to 44 years, fixing in 0.1045. Assuming a genetic-economical superiority for a given trait of interest, expressed in both males and female of R$ 30.00, the genetic economical gain would be obtained in a shorter time and the expected response after one round of selection would have a greater magnitude in the first case (R$ 3.97) when compared with the second case (R$ 3.13)... (Complete abstract, click electronic access below) / Orientadora: Lúcia galvão de Albuquerque / Coorientadora: Vera Lúcia Cardoso / Banca: Henrique Nunes de Oliveira / Banca: Maria Eugênia Zerlotti Mercadante / Mestre