Tom Field, PhD • Colorado State University

Cattle production is a complex enterprise that results from the inherent inter-relationships between:

• the biological and financial aspects of production systems,
• a growing focus on the development of supply chains,
• pressure from externalities including governmental regulators and international trading partners,
• societal concerns about, for example, the environment and animal welfare,
• an overwhelming amount of information and data, and
• limited availability of cohesive benchmarking systems aligned with production and marketing goals.

These factors, when taken in total, create a cattle industry environment accentuated by change rather than stability.