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Beef · Financial · Breakeven

Cost of production

$2.53/kg LW

Total operating expenditure divided by liveweight ($/kg LW) or per cow joined — your financial breakeven, independent of volatile market prices.

Worked example · Operating cost per kg liveweight produced
$2.53 / kg LW Feed $0.77 Pasture $0.50 Health $0.43 Freight $0.30 Overheads $0.53
Operating cost per kg liveweight produced
The benchmark

Southern breeding and finishing operations commonly run a breakeven of $2.20–3.40 per kg liveweight produced.

Agriculture Victoria LFMP ↗
What it signals

It is the key tool for managing downturns: it shows which production lines stay profitable and where overheads need managing to keep the business resilient when prices fall.

Data required to calculate
Farm operating expenditure$Total liveweight produced ORkgLWTotal stock producedhead

Silo pulls each of these from the sources the operation already uses, and keeps the figure current automatically.

How to improve it
01

Lift conception and calving rates by culling non-productive breeders.

02

Invest in genetics for faster daily growth to cut time to weaning.

03

Improve feed conversion and overall feed efficiency to lower inputs.

Questions & answers

What is cost of production?

Total operating expenditure divided by liveweight ($/kg LW) or per cow joined — your financial breakeven, independent of volatile market prices.

What data do you need to calculate cost of production?

You need: Farm operating expenditure ($), Total liveweight produced OR (kgLW), Total stock produced (head). Silo pulls each of these from the sources the operation already uses and keeps the figure current automatically.

What is a good cost of production benchmark?

Southern breeding and finishing operations commonly run a breakeven of $2.20–3.40 per kg liveweight produced.

How do you improve cost of production?

Lift conception and calving rates by culling non-productive breeders. Invest in genetics for faster daily growth to cut time to weaning. Improve feed conversion and overall feed efficiency to lower inputs.

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