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3. 2006 National Extension Women in Agriculture Conference

The Cattle Marketing Game

Stacy Hadrick

Summary

Marketing is a critical component in the competitive agricultural system we know. Women are proven to be better marketers of commodities due to the lack of emotional attachment. It is important to provide women the tools to learn about marketing opportunities. An environment that allows them to question and put practical ideas to work is key when working with women. The Cattle Marketing Game will take participants through a typical year of calving, weaning and marketing. The game is based on an actual year and it uses realistic numbers to help figure cost of production. Each month starting in March the participants will be given information to help them determine how they should best market their livestock. They have the choice to sell calves at weaning or have an option to background until January. They can utilize the commodity markets to help price protect their calves. The game is a wonderful hands on session that is not fancy; the participants just use paper and calculators to compute their decisions. The game does provide an excellent opportunity for participants to learn about cattle marketing opportunities in a fun educational process. This session was done at the South Dakota Women In Agriculture conference it sparked great conversation about breakeven costs and marketing opportunities.

Details

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