Lay Summary Feedlot profits can change quickly as feed costs, cattle prices, and animal performance shift over time. Many commonly used profit estimates rely on simplified assumptions or past averages, which can make it difficult for feedlot operators to evaluate current conditions or plan ahead. This study supports the development of a new feedlot profitability simulator tailored to the U.S. High Plains. The simulator uses region-specific rations that reflect current cattle nutrition standards and combines them with realistic market price changes. As a result, it produces outcomes, such as finished weights and cost of gain, that closely match industry benchmarks and publicly available U.S. Department of Agriculture data. Users can examine how profits respond to changes in feed prices, cattle prices, or feeding strategies, rather than relying on a single fixed scenario. By allowing feedlot operators to compare “what actually happened” with “what might happen under different conditions,” the simulator provides a practical way to support planning, budgeting, and risk management decisions. The High Plains Cattle Feeding Simulator will be updated every month and made publicly available by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service.
Dennis et al. (Wed,) studied this question.