Master Cattleman is a comprehensive extension program covering all aspects of beef cattle production. Five multi-county Master Cattleman programs were conducted from October 2019 to March 2020. I deliver the Marketing and Profitability sessions, which were held in Monticello, Erlanger, Henderson, West Liberty, and New Castle, reaching 169 producers directly. The Marketing and Profitability session is very detailed and covers general marketing concepts, beef trade, price seasonality, cattle cycles, heifer retention, and general profitability analysis. The average producer in these sessions reported managing 41 cows and backgrounding 49 cattle per year.

Evaluation focused on four primary areas, assessing the increase in knowledge of general marketing concepts, cattle cycles, price seasonality, and bred heifer valuation. Using a 10 point scale, responding participants indicated an increase in knowledge from 5.1 to 7.7, with the largest increases seen in the areas of cattle cycles and heifer valuation.