PRICE PREMIUMS FROM A CERTIFIED FEEDER CALF PRECONDITIONING PROGRAM

Preconditioning calf programs, while not new, are becoming more prevalent. They provide benefits to cow-calf producers while adding value for feeder cattle buyers. However, questions remain regarding the marginal returns from marketing preconditioned calves exceeds the marginal costs for preconditioning. This paper reports estimates from two models to determine the premium paid by feeder cattle buyers for preconditioned calves in the Oklahoma Quality Beef Network (OQBN) program. One model assumes feeder calf characteristics are independent as most previous research. The other assumes interdependency between several characteristics that are affected by preconditioning. Data were from seven feeder calf sales in Oklahoma in 2001 and another seven sales in 2002. Estimated price premiums for OQBN certified calves from the second model were typically higher and more consisted across sales than were the price premiums from the first model.