The University of Wisconsin has released a new Excel-based cow-calf enterprise budgeting tool which can be downloaded from the university's website.

The output of this tool can be used to establish benchmark data for the cow-calf operation, which provides information that can be used to identify strengths and opportunities for improvement.

The spreadsheet can also be used for doing projections, and looking at how potential changes can improve the cow-calf enterprise's cash flow.

The enterprise budget is designed to calculate profit or loss and break evens on a whole herd, per cow, and a basis of per hundredweight of feeder calf sold, when complete information is entered.

It is designed to allow user-defined parameters for calculating a variety of overhead expenses.

Examples are included in each section, and users can modify by adding, removing or renaming items to fit their operation.

Directions and guidelines for using the spreadsheet are located in an Adobe Acrobat file that can be accessed at the top near the center of the spreadsheet.

The spreadsheet is available for download at the WBIC Decision Tools and Software Page, or downloaded directly at UW Extension Beef Cow-Calf Spreadsheet.