Keeping cows cheaper and making more profit are the topics of an ongoing blog I've been tracking by Kris Ringwall, North Dakota State University animal scientist.

This seems pretty important, considering the data showing average cow costs rose right along with calf prices and have fallen by very little as calf prices crashed.

Ringwall is director of the Dickinson Research Center for the university, and for several years now they have been experimenting with various cow sizes and keeping records on true cow productivity, including a recent piece on the real value of calves from large cows versus small cows.

He's laying it out a piece at a time, but here are the particulars he's shared so far:

1. Traditionally sized, May-born calves carried through the winter on a grazing program and then fed out produced 1,610-pound steers at harvest at 22 months, with a carcass value on the rail of $2,224 and a return to the cattle producer of $896 after subtracting cow costs.

2. Steer calves from smaller cows with an average frame score of 3.8 grew into an average of 1,401 pounds when harvested at around 22 months of age, with a carcass value on the rail of $2,018.

3. Cost control in imperative. Returns of $1.30 cost per pound of weaned calf per exposed cow do not synch with gross margins per cow exceeding $1,000 in some beef operations.

4. Profit from changing management can be huge. By decreasing cow size, better using an expanded forage base, calving in May and June, and retaining calf ownership, the center’s revenue increased 10%. The revenue per cow was lower, but the revenue generated per acre at the ranch was greater due to 20% more calves to sell.

Ringwall told me they are calculating and recalculating the results on these studies and that it's a work in progress. Once he has laid all this out, we'll do a full report with him on their findings.

This appears to be one of those rare scientific studies that might help answer the question whether more-efficient cows can actually produce more profit.