About > Authors
Lee Schulz
Newsletter Articles
- Reliable high-speed internet an input into farming -- September 2023
- Beef cow herd keeps shrinking cyclically -- August 2023
- Hogs and Pigs Report advanced statistics -- July 2023
- Watching "smart money" commodity trading could pay -- June 2023
- Profits entice cattle producers to expand to capture more profits -- May 2023
- Outside forces cloud investment decision making for pork producers -- April 2023
- There’s a new library in town -- March 2023
- Beef cow herd to shrink for years to come - February 2023
- Will swine breeding herd increases continue? -- January 2023
- Position in cattle cycle impacts replacement prices -- December 2022
- Incentives matter for conservation practice adoption -- November 2022
- Big inventory swings in some hog states -- October 2022
- Farmland values, cash rents surge in 2022 -- September 2022
- Disentangling input and output price relationships -- September 2022
- Strong beef demand boosts cull bull market -- August 2022
- Hog producers rationally responding to market signals -- July 2022
- Many factors could support, derail cattle inventory trends -- June 2022
- Detailing the supply curve for beef -- May 2022
- Hogs and pigs inventory contraction continues -- April 2022
- Consumers respond to meat price differences -- April 2022
- Some quirks but typical beef market trends expected -- March 2022
- Iowa’s beef cow herd is off and running -- February 2022
- Sorting out hog production shocks -- January 2022
- Strong by-product values lift cattle prices -- December 2021
- How long will strong beef demand continue? -- November 2021
- Can dairy beef prices foretell future price trends -- October 2021
- Making sense of recent changes in hog inventories -- October 2021
- Tools to manage volatile markets -- September 2021
- Avoid misinterpreting year-to-year cattle inventory changes -- August 2021
- Producers freshen the swine breeding herd -- July 2021
- Poor start to haying and grazing season -- June 2021
- Recapping 2020 through the cattle industry lens -- May 2021
- Push-n-pull supporting hog prices -- April 2021
- Ground beef demand remains strong -- March 2021
- No clear signals on beef cattle herd expansion -- February 2021
- Talk of hog supply contraction is premature -- January 2021
- Organic beef captures price premiums -- December 2020
- Net farm income projection higher, debt forecast worse -- November 2020
- Understanding stats in USDA hogs and pigs reports -- October 2020
- Buy local meat business grows -- September 2020
- Little change in mid-year cattle inventory -- August 2020
- What’s included and excluded in USDA hog numbers? -- July 2020
- Rising cattle supplies face restricted packing capacity -- June 2020
- Strive to market fed cattle at optimum weight – even in tough times -- May 2020
- Hog producers limited in short-run to change production -- April 2020
- Cattle market shaken by COVID-19 -- March 2020
- Beef producers work to overcome 2019 challenges -- February 2020
- Economics spur expansion and help guide where hogs are produced -- January 2020
- Challenges and opportunities to beef farm succession -- November 2019
- Livestock prices stabilizing after rollercoaster rise and fall -- January 2017
- Updated tools for calculating net present value of beef replacement females -- March 2016
Information Files
- Livestock Planning Prices -- B1-10
- Livestock Enterprise Budgets for Iowa -- B1-21
- Monthly Swine Feeding Returns-- B1-31
- Monthly Cattle Feeding Returns -- B1-36
- Managed Hay and Grazing of CRP Acres -- B1-60
- Raising Versus Buying Heifers for Beef Cow Replacement -- B1-73
- Net Present Value of Beef Replacement Females -- B1-74
- Assessing Economic Opportunity of Improving Mortality Rate in Wean-to-Finish Swine Production -- B1-78
- Assessing Economic Opportunity of Improving Mortality Rate in Breed-to-Wean Swine Production -- B1-79
- Historical Hog and Lamb Prices -- B2-10
- Historical Cattle Prices -- B2-12
- Seasonal Hog Price Patterns -- B2-14
- Change in Hog Prices by Two-week Period -- B2-15
- Seasonal Cattle Price Patterns -- B2-19
- Change in Cattle Prices by Two-week Period -- B2-20
- Cattle Marketing Decisions -- B2-35
- Lean Hog Basis -- B2-41
- Live Cattle Basis -- B2-42
- Feeder Cattle Basis -- B2-43
- Feeder Steer-Heifer Price Spread -- B2-45
- Hedging of Livestock -- B2-50
- Livestock Options Market -- B2-52
- Frequency of Profitable Hedging Opportunities for Lean Hogs, 2005-2014 -- B2-53
- How Often Can Cattle Feeders Hedge a Profit with Futures? -- B2-54
- Live Cattle Futures - The Life of a Contract: Comparing Expiration to Weekly Futures Prices -- B2-63
- Feeder Cattle Futures - The Life of a Contract: Comparing Expiration to Weekly Futures Prices -- B2-64
- Suggested Closing Inventory Prices -- C1-40
Decision Tools (xlsx)
- Farrow-to-Finish -- B1-21
- Finishing Feeder Pigs -- B1-21
- Producing weaned 12 lb. pigs - Total Confinement -- B1-21
- Finishing weaned 12 lb. pigs – Total Confinement -- B1-21
- Finishing Yearling Steers-- B1-21
- Finishing Steer Calves -- B1-21
- Finishing Yearling Heifers -- B1-21
- Backgrounding Steer Calves -- B1-21
- Beef Cow-Calf -- B1-21
- Ewe Flock -- B1-21
- Finishing Feeder Lamb -- B1-21
- Managed Hay and Grazing of CRP Acres -- B1-60
- Buying Heifers for Beef Cow Replacement -- B1-73
- Raising Heifers for Beef Cow Replacement -- B1-73
- Net Present Value of Beef Replacement Females (single replacement) -- B1-74
- Net Present Value of Beef Replacement Females (group of replacements) -- B1-74
- Pig Survivability Project: Wean-to-finish mortality economic modeling -- B1-78
- Pig Survivability Project: Breed-to-wean mortality economic modeling -- B1-79
- Cow Sell Calculator -- B2-35
- Cow Repurchase Calculator -- B2-35
- Simple Hog Market Calculator -- B2-53
- Swine Marketing Decision Calculator -- B2-53
- Lean Hog Futures Forecast Errors, 2000-2019 -- B2-67
