Master of Agribusiness / Department of Agricultural Economics / Dustin L. Pendell / Sachse Family Angus is both a commercial and registered Angus cow-calf operation in Northeast Kansas and has been in operation since 1935. The end goal in mind is to provide quality female breeding seedstock to other beef producers with the hopes of improving their herds. Successful selection and development of beef replacement heifers have major long term effects on stayability in any herd and can even have a positive impact on the whole herd. The objective of this study is to create a decision tool to determine best heifer selection strategies. Specifically, taking a look at the cost of heifer development under a range of scenarios as it applies to more traditional heifer development. The depth of literature addressing the issue of buying or raising replacement heifers is vast, providing various degrees of analysis to help a producer make the best informed decision. Some economists would argue that no single aspect of beef production management is as complicated, or has such an economic impact as cow culling and replacement heifer decisions (Melton, 1980). Procedures and methods were created to analyze whether a producer should raise or develop their own replacement heifers. One method used in creating a decision tool is an enterprise budget. Enterprise budgeting is the systematic determination and listing of expected outputs, revenues, and costs due to the production processes required to produce one unit of an enterprise for a specified time period. To take this one step further, it is assumed a producer makes choices with respect to the combinations of productive factors and products. Partial budgets include an analysis of net returns from small changes or refinement to a ranch. It focuses on parts that change while building upon an enterprise budget. In essence, it fine tunes current operations while holding all else constant. The benefits of partial budgeting take a look at what will be the new or added revenue if a change is implemented on the ranch and what costs will be reduced or eliminated if taken place. What will be the new or added costs and what revenues will be reduced if a change takes place are also things to keep in mind. Therefore, the result will show a producer the net benefit of the change. In turn, Sachse Family Angus will use this information to build their registered and commercial replacement heifers either by developing their own or purchasing from other breeders. Overtime, this decision will be critical as it will impact their herd for years to come. In conclusion, maintaining a good sound, high functioning beef cow herd means selecting and developing quality replacement heifers to retain in the herd each year. An estimated 20% of heifers born each year at Sachse Family Angus are kept as replacement heifers. When managing home raised heifers or purchased heifers, maintaining costs and keeping them in check is crucial because they represent a large up-front investment. The bottom line of this research is to give the managers at Sachse Family Angus and other operations across the country a decision tool that can be used to analyze their current resources and the resources it will take to develop their own heifers successfully and in the most cost effective way or help them analyze if purchasing their heifers makes the most financial sense.

Made available in DSpace on 2017-07-10T17:48:00Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Suzana_da_Cruz_Pires.pdf: 722037 bytes, checksum: 952fb3e207015f4fad1448e7023d7836 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-03-18 / Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico / The heifers breeding for replacement of dairy herds have great importance for the national livestock. This breeding phase is critical and challenging due to numerous factors, but mainly when it comes to feeding management. The aim of this work was to evaluate the effect of three different volumes of milk replacer, provided for Holstein heifers up to 60 days, on the zootechnical performance and the relation cost-benefit of production. The work was carried out at the heifers Rearing Unit of Cooperativa Agroindustrial Lar in São Miguel do Iguaçu - PR. 45 heifers were used, randomly allocated into three treatments. With the use of an automatic feeder, the treatments were based on offering three different amounts of milk replacer: 4L Treatment (four liters); 6L (six liters) and AL (ad libitum). All animals received concentrate ad libitum. The morphometric measurements (height, body length, chest girth) and weight were measured weekly. The used experimental outline was completely randomized. It was performed the variance analysis and for comparison of means it was used Tukey at 5% significance. Data were analyzed by statistical program Sisvar. 4L and 6L heifers had higher concentrate intake than AL heifers. The feeding cost of 4L and 6L heifers was 66.42 and 90% respectively lower compared to AL heifers. AL heifers showed higher weight averages and morphometric measurements than other treatments in most of weeks. Regardless of the milk replacer volume supplied, 4L heifers showed higher concentrate intake and lower production cost. The zootechnical performance was similar for all treatments at weaning / As criações de bezerras para a reposição de rebanhos leiteiros têm grande importância para a pecuária nacional. Essa fase da criação é crítica e desafiadora em função de inúmeros fatores, principalmente quando se trata do manejo alimentar. O objetivo desse trabalho foi avaliar o efeito de três diferentes volumes de sucedâneo de leite, fornecidos para bezerras da raça Holandesa até 60 dias, sobre o desempenho zootécnico e a relação custo benefício de produção. O trabalho foi realizado na Unidade de Recria de Novilhas da Cooperativa Agroindustrial Lar no município de São Miguel do Iguaçu PR. Foram utilizadas 45 bezerras distribuídas ao acaso em três tratamentos. Com o uso de um alimentador automático, os tratamentos basearam-se na oferta de três diferentes quantidades de sucedâneo de leite: Tratamento 4L (quatro litros); 6L (seis litros) e AL (ad libitum). Todos os animais receberam concentrado a vontade. As medidas morfométricas (altura, comprimento corporal, perímetro torácico) e o peso foram mensurados semanalmente. O delineamento experimental utilizado foi o inteiramente casualizado. Foi realizada análise de variância e para comparação de médias foi utilizado Tukey a 5% de significância. Os dados foram analisados pelo programa estatístico Sisvar. As bezerras 4L e 6L tiveram consumo de concentrado superior às bezerras AL. O custo da alimentação das bezerras 4L e 6L foi de 66,42 e 90% respectivamente inferior em relação às bezerras AL. As bezerras AL apresentaram médias de peso e medidas morfométricas superiores aos demais tratamentos na maioria das semanas. Independente do volume de sucedâneo de leite fornecido, as bezerras 4L apresentaram maior consumo de concentrado e menor custo de produção. O desempenho zootécnico foi semelhante para todos os tratamentos ao desmame