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A linear programming model of integrated beef production was used to determine the effects of different mature cow weights, levels of potential milk yield and creep feeding on economic efficiency. All biological values for this study were taken from the literature. The criteria for comparison were farm gross margins, defined as the difference between total revenue and total variable costs. The model is integrated in the sense that it includes a cow–calf operation with replacements bred on the farm, a feedlot for steers and surplus heifers, cropping, and the labor and capital required for livestock and cropping. Two management programs for weaning and rearing young calves were considered at each of four levels of farm resources (80 and 120 ha of land, each with one or two hired men). Beef:feed price ratios, the maximal daily dry matter intake for cows and the minimal land available for pasture were also varied. Larger cow sizes always gave larger farm gross margins. At both 5 and 10 kg/day milk yield, the management program that used creep feeding through to weaning at 213 days rather than to 70 days gave smaller farm gross margins ($14,813 and $15,166, compared with $16,836 and $16,052). Conclusions about optimal levels for feeding cows for milk were affected by the management program and by maximal daily dry matter intakes for cows. The minimal level of pasture available did not affect the rankings of cow sizes with respect to farm gross margins; there was only a 1.2% change on the average in the farm gross margins with 40 ha minimal pasture available, compared to the optimal cropping program. The beef:feed price ratio was generally not important to the rankings of cow sizes and milk yield, but it affected the magnitude of differences between cow sizes and between milk yields. Research needs for more detailed data on calf energy requirements, dry matter intakes, production from nursing cows at pasture and for defining optimal management programs were identified.

EFFECTS OF CREEP FEEDING, MATURE COW WEIGHT AND MILK YIELD ON FARM GROSS MARGINS IN AN INTEGRATED BEEF PRODUCTION MODEL