{
  "slug": "cattle-breakeven-price",
  "title": "Cattle Breakeven Price Calculator",
  "heading": "Cattle Breakeven Sale Price Calculator",
  "category": "financial",
  "url": "https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/cattle-breakeven-price",
  "summary": "Minimum sale price needed to cover purchase, feed, and yardage costs.",
  "description": "Backgrounders and feeders live or die on the gap between breakeven and the actual sale price, and that breakeven number shifts every time feed costs or death loss assumptions move. This calculator takes purchase weight and price, projected finished weight, days on feed, cost of gain, and yardage or interest costs to compute the total cost per head and the breakeven price per hundredweight needed at sale to cover it all. Run it before buying a set of calves to know exactly what sale price you need, and rerun it as corn and feeder prices move through the feeding period since the breakeven isn't static once you own the cattle.",
  "formula": "Total cost = purchase cost + (gain lb × cost of gain per lb) + yardage (days × rate) + death loss adj + interest; breakeven $/cwt = total cost ÷ (finished weight ÷ 100).",
  "dateModified": "2026-09-30",
  "run_url": "https://www.revenuelab.fyi/api/public/calc?tool=cattle-breakeven-price",
  "inputs": [
    {
      "id": "buyWeight",
      "label": "Purchase weight",
      "kind": "number",
      "hint": null,
      "default": 550,
      "unit": "lb",
      "min": 100,
      "max": null
    },
    {
      "id": "buyPrice",
      "label": "Purchase price",
      "kind": "number",
      "hint": null,
      "default": 245,
      "unit": "$/cwt",
      "min": 30,
      "max": null
    },
    {
      "id": "finishWeight",
      "label": "Finished/sale weight",
      "kind": "number",
      "hint": null,
      "default": 850,
      "unit": "lb",
      "min": 200,
      "max": null
    },
    {
      "id": "costOfGain",
      "label": "Cost of gain",
      "kind": "number",
      "hint": null,
      "default": 0.95,
      "unit": "$/lb",
      "min": 0.3,
      "max": null
    },
    {
      "id": "yardageDay",
      "label": "Yardage",
      "kind": "number",
      "hint": null,
      "default": 0.45,
      "unit": "$/head/day",
      "min": 0,
      "max": null
    },
    {
      "id": "daysOnFeed",
      "label": "Days on feed",
      "kind": "number",
      "hint": null,
      "default": 150,
      "unit": null,
      "min": 20,
      "max": null
    },
    {
      "id": "deathLossPct",
      "label": "Death loss",
      "kind": "number",
      "hint": null,
      "default": 1.5,
      "unit": "%",
      "min": 0,
      "max": 10
    }
  ],
  "outputs": [
    {
      "id": "breakevenCwt",
      "label": "Breakeven sale price",
      "format": "currency",
      "hint": null,
      "primary": true
    },
    {
      "id": "totalCost",
      "label": "Total cost per head",
      "format": "currency",
      "hint": null,
      "primary": false
    },
    {
      "id": "purchaseCost",
      "label": "Purchase cost",
      "format": "currency",
      "hint": null,
      "primary": false
    },
    {
      "id": "gainCost",
      "label": "Cost of gain, total",
      "format": "currency",
      "hint": null,
      "primary": false
    },
    {
      "id": "yardage",
      "label": "Total yardage cost",
      "format": "currency",
      "hint": null,
      "primary": false
    }
  ],
  "worked_example": {
    "inputs": [
      "Purchase weight: 550 lb",
      "Purchase price: 245 $/cwt",
      "Finished/sale weight: 850 lb",
      "Cost of gain: 0.95 $/lb",
      "Yardage: 0.45 $/head/day",
      "Days on feed: 150",
      "Death loss: 1.5 %"
    ],
    "outputs": [
      "Breakeven sale price: $203.00",
      "Total cost per head: $1,725.50",
      "Purchase cost: $1,347.50",
      "Cost of gain, total: $285.00",
      "Total yardage cost: $67.50"
    ]
  },
  "how_to": {
    "title": "How to use this",
    "steps": [
      "Enter purchase weight (lb).",
      "Enter purchase price ($/cwt).",
      "Enter finished/sale weight (lb).",
      "Enter cost of gain ($/lb).",
      "Enter yardage ($/head/day).",
      "Enter days on feed.",
      "Enter death loss (%).",
      "Read your breakeven sale price on the right — it updates as you type.",
      "Hit Share to keep the scenario or send it to someone."
    ]
  },
  "scenarios": [
    {
      "name": "Conservative",
      "description": "Lower-end numbers — what if things land soft?",
      "values": {
        "buyWeight": 330,
        "buyPrice": 147,
        "finishWeight": 510,
        "costOfGain": 0.57,
        "yardageDay": 0.27,
        "daysOnFeed": 90,
        "deathLossPct": 0.8999999999999999
      }
    },
    {
      "name": "Typical",
      "description": "Defaults — the most common real-world setup.",
      "values": {
        "buyWeight": 550,
        "buyPrice": 245,
        "finishWeight": 850,
        "costOfGain": 0.95,
        "yardageDay": 0.45,
        "daysOnFeed": 150,
        "deathLossPct": 1.5
      }
    },
    {
      "name": "Ambitious",
      "description": "Higher-end numbers — what if things really pop?",
      "values": {
        "buyWeight": 880,
        "buyPrice": 392,
        "finishWeight": 1360,
        "costOfGain": 1.52,
        "yardageDay": 0.7200000000000001,
        "daysOnFeed": 240,
        "deathLossPct": 2.4000000000000004
      }
    }
  ],
  "limitations": [
    "Results are estimates before tax, fees, and inflation unless an input explicitly covers them.",
    "Rates are treated as fixed for the whole period — variable-rate products will drift from this projection.",
    "This is educational maths, not financial advice. Check anything contractual with the lender or your accountant."
  ],
  "faq": [
    {
      "q": "What's included in cost of gain?",
      "a": "Feed is the majority, but a proper cost-of-gain number should also include a share of health/vet costs, implants, and bunk management labor. Backgrounders in cheap-corn years might see $0.70-0.85/lb, while high-corn years or high-concentrate finishing diets can push it to $1.00-1.20/lb."
    },
    {
      "q": "Why include death loss as a percentage of total cost rather than per head?",
      "a": "Spreading death loss risk across the whole cost basis reflects that the animals that die still consumed feed and yardage before they were lost, and the survivors have to cover that sunk cost. A flat 1.5-2% add-on is a reasonable industry approximation for a typical backgrounding lot."
    },
    {
      "q": "How often should I recheck breakeven during the feeding period?",
      "a": "At minimum monthly, since corn and feeder cattle futures move enough to shift cost of gain meaningfully within a feeding period. Many feedlots recalculate weekly and use it to time hedging decisions on the finished cattle."
    },
    {
      "q": "Does interest on the cattle investment matter?",
      "a": "Yes, and this simplified version leaves it out explicitly beyond yardage — if you're financing the purchase, add opportunity or loan interest on the purchase cost across the feeding days, which typically adds another $8-20 per head depending on rates and days on feed."
    }
  ],
  "related": [
    "https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/feedlot-cost-of-gain",
    "https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/calf-weaning-weight-value",
    "https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/beef-cutout-value"
  ],
  "license": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "citation": "RevenueLab — Cattle Breakeven Price Calculator (https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/cattle-breakeven-price)"
}