  BeefTalk:
Closed for Inventory – Come Back Tomorrow
By Kris Ringwall, Extension Beef Specialist,
NDSU Extension Service
As the year ends, the "closed for inventory" signs start to appear
in store fronts. The same should be said for the farms and ranches. Many people,
especially the younger generation, need to be reminded of these events because
they have never seen the signs.
Today, the larger stores never close because they do what is termed perpetual
inventory – everything is monitored going in and out on a daily basis. If
these larger stores close, the electronic count of inventory using bar scans is
very fast.
Unfortunately, technology development and implementation is not always equal,
especially in farm and ranch communities. Cattle are not bar coded (although
some ear tags can be developed that way) so inventory reconciliation is done the
old fashioned way.
If I asked, "How many cattle do you have?" could you answer? The
most correct answer would be, "I need to think on that" because seldom
is the number readily available (unless you just completed your inventory
count).
Within the beef cattle business, the true answer is a function of perpetual
inventories where everything is inventoried in and out. Any variation in
inventory is checked by periodic audits.
At the Dickinson Research Extension Center, the annual hair pulling has begun
as we reconcile our inventory. This is not unusual but it is still a headache.
The center has several groups of cattle, each with different values. (The
count and values assigned to each are important for development of the year-end
financial statement.)
The mature cattle inventory is straight forward. We began our inventory count
on Nov. 1 with 498 cows. We sold 114 cows during November for a Dec. 1 inventory
count of 384. We started November with 26 bulls and had 26 bulls on Dec. 1. The
tricky part is keeping track of numbers as we move the calves through the
various enterprises.
On Sept. 1, the center had 396 calves. The Nov. 1 inventory was 220 and the
Dec. 1 inventory was 0. We still owned all the calves, however, for effective
financial management, the calves needed to be transferred from the cow operation
to the backgrounding operation. During October, 174 calves were weaned and
transferred to the backgrounding operation. One died. In November, one calf was
transferred, the final 220 were weaned, eight calves were sold and the rest
transferred, thus a Dec. 1 calf inventory of 0.
So as you see, the answer to how many cattle you have is complicated.
The Nov. 1 inventory of backgrounded calves was 102 and the Dec. 1 inventory
was 126. Boy, the numbers don’t add. Only the steer calves were transferred to
the backgrounding enterprise and 86 steers were transferred to the feedlot
enterprise before the last weaned calf arrived and one calf died.
The Nov. 1 replacement heifer inventory was 71, with an additional 102
transferred in, so the Dec. 1 inventory was 173. The feedlot inventory, although
the calves are not physically at the center, still needs to be tracked. The Nov.
1 inventory was 0 and the Dec. 1 inventory was 86. The constant coming and going
of cattle makes counting difficult.
If you actually tracked all the numbers and calculated back you would
conclude that there should have been 397 calves on the September inventory not
the previously stated 396, thus the hair loss. The transfers all appear correct,
and three additional calves died in September and October. So where did the
extra calf come from?
Our Dec. 1 inventory is correct, since we physically checked all cattle and
identification tags, but the recorded numbers are off by one. It’s frustrating
when you can’t find all your ear tags. Although keeping track of cattle is
difficult, remember that inventory is money.
Happy New Year. May you find all your ear tags.
Your comments are always welcome at www.BeefTalk.com.
For more information, contact the North Dakota Beef Cattle Improvement
Association, 1133 State Avenue, Dickinson, ND 58601 or go to www.CHAPS2000.COM
on the Internet. In correspondence about this column, refer to BT0123.
###
Source: Kris Ringwall, (701) 483-2427, kringwal@ndsuext.nodak.edu
Editor: Tom Jirik, (701) 231-9629, tjirik@ndsuext.nodak.edu
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Graphic
Nov 1 and Dec 1 Perpetual Inventory
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Nov 1 Transfer Transfer Dec 1
Enterprise Inventory In Out Inventory
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Cows 498 0 114 384
Bulls 26 0 0 26
Calves 220 0 220 0
Background 102 111 87 126
Replacements 71 102 0 173
Feedlot 0 86 0 86
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Cattle sold included: 114 cows, eight steer calves
plus one steer calf died in November
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NDSU Dickinson Research Extension Center
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