Cow-calf producer expands marketing as inputs rise

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Cow-calf producer expands marketing as inputs rise

A southwestern Missouri cow-calf producer is looking to make every penny he can off his beef to combat rising input costs.

Tanner Clark tells Brownfield it’s very difficult to feed $800 worth of fertilizer through a beef cow and make a profit.

“You can’t not fertilize because, you know, you’re not going to have grass, you’re not going to have forages,” he said. “Well, I heard people say, ‘well I’m just not going to spend money in fertilizer, I’m just going to buy hay’ – my answer to them is ‘that’s fine, if that’s your management choice, but just understand, hay is going to be twice the price this year as well.”

The Douglas County Producer said a dry year would spike hay costs even further. And Clark said if farmers don’t fertilize and can’t buy hay, their last option is to sell cows, making direct to consumer marketing more important.

“Showing more opportunities to sell or, kind of, get your product in front of the consumer to be more profitable; I think that’s very important now,” he said. “Because we have to be able to make every penny that we can possibly make every penny off each individual pound of product that we produce just so we can be able to afford to stay in business.”

Clark said he hasn’t been directly impacted by the drought conditions mostly impacting the western plains. Brownfield interviewed Clark at the Missouri Young Farmers & Ranchers Leadership Conference Friday.

Tanner Clark Interview

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