Success StoryProduct-Market-Fit and Beef Production



Product-Market-Fit and Beef Production

Author: Leslie Anderson

Planning Unit: Animal and Food Sciences

Major Program: Beef

Outcome: Initial Outcome

Product-Market-Fit is a term used in business to describe the importance of producing a product that matches the market of the business. Beef cattle producers rarely consider matching their production with their designated market. For example, most cattle producers in Kentucky market feeder cattle. In the feeder cattle market, steers are more valuable than heifers at the same age. So, to maximize this market strategy, producers need to create as many steers as possible over as short a time period as possible. The UK Beef Group began an effort to help producers understand the value of product-market-fit by incorporating the use of gender-sorted semen and AI. Our preliminary results have been exciting. In 2022-23, one farm was used and 35 cows were inseminated twice using gender sorted semen before bulls were turned out for clean up. Thirty-four total cows became pregnant and 30 became pregnant to AI. Approximately 30 steers should be born in about 50 days from these 35 cows. Normally, we would see 17-18 steers. Also, the size of the market group increased which will increase the market value of each calf by approximately $25. Since steers are approximately $150 more valuable than heifers, using gender-sorted semen resulted in about $2200 more revenue for this cattle producers. Nearly 900 head were inseminated on 7 different farms in 2023/2024 and the results should be exciting.  






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