Agriculture
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Agribusiness - Elective 1
Assessing patterns over time
In this activity you will research information about the supply and price of cattle, construct graphs and draw conclusions about trends in the data.
- Visit the National Livestock Reporting Service
web site and complete the
table shown below. In order to complete this table you will need
to visit the parts of the site that provide information for the
following years, NSW Meat Industry Authority 1996 Annual Report , 1997
Annual Report , 1998 Annual Report .
BATHURST Yearling Steers C3 280 - 400 kg
Year Number of prime cattle offered for sale 94/95 64 800 95/96 96/97 97/98
BATHURST Yearling Steers C3 280 - 400 kg
Year Sale price c/kg 94/95 95/96 96/97 97/98 85
- Construct two separate graphs presenting the information provided in the two tables.
- Describe the trends shown in each graph.
- Describe what the
effect on the profitability of a yearling steer production
enterprise would be if the trend shown in the sale price (c/kg) was to continue.
- If the price paid for a product falls then farmers are reluctant to supply product to the market.
Is this statement true for the above graphs?
- Identify two factors,
apart from price, that may influence the falling number of cattle offered for sale.
- Imagine that in 1999 you had been
asked to advise a beef producer. Use your understanding of the
above trends to comment on the following situations.
- The farmer wants to increase the size of his/her breeding herd.
- The farmer wants to grow the steers for another 12 months and then sell them in a heavier, fatter condition.
- The farmer wants to fatten young sheep instead of cattle next year.
- The farmer wants to replace growing cattle with cropping.
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