Assessing resource utilisation in beef cattle feedlot system in Adamawa State, Nigeria

. This study assessed resource utilisation in beef cattle fattening units in Adamawa State, Nigeria, with the intent of highlighting some crucial areas that may require policy intervention for improvement. Purposive, multistage and random sampling methods were employed in selection of 270 beef cattle fatteners in the area studied. Structured questionnaire and group discussion were used in sourcing for data. The latter were analysed through descriptive statistics and efficiency methods of Data Enveloping Analysis (DEA). Results indicated that Sokoto gudali (72.60%) and Rahaji (20.00%) were the major cattle breeds adopted for fattening. While a total of 70.70% of fatteners fed bulls for a period of 4-6 months and in the open without shade (77.80%), the use of combination of crop residues and conventional feeds was the most popular (74.81%) in feeding stock in the State. Further, the most important resources were initial cost of bulls and cost of feeds with N169,056.00 and N10,559.00 per bull, respectively. Resources were found to be efficiently utilised within the beef cattle feedlot farms with Constant Return to Scale (CRS), Non-Increasing Return to Scale (NIRTS), Variable Return to Scale (VRS), Scale Efficiency (SE) and Return to Scale RTS) models mean scores of 84.44%, 84.44%, 91.48%, 84.74%, and 100%, respectively. Conclusively, it could be stated that indigenous breeds of Sokoto gudali and Rahaji were the main bulls used for fattening in the State, and a mixture of crop residues and conventional feeds was the popular plane of feeding stock, with most farms utilising resources efficiently. Stemming from the findings, soft credit facilities to accord fatteners afford initial off-setting cost of bulls and frequent extension services to same, for modernisation of beef cattle feedlot system are highly recommended.