Calculating Closeouts for Stockers Can Improve Decision-Making and Profitability
Amy Barkley, Team Leader & Livestock Specialist
Southwest New York Dairy, Livestock and Field Crops Program
Most of the stockers in the Northeast are brought in from pasture and sold or begin the finishing process on-farm. Following the transition of those animals, a closeout can be created for each group or pen sold. This evaluation reviews the animals' yearly performance, looking at items including feed intake, death loss, revenue, expenses, and profit/loss and helps to develop an annual record to help make decisions moving into subsequent seasons. The University of Wisconsin has developed a series of open-access close-out spreadsheet to help with the evaluation, which can be found here.
If you are interested in sharing your evaluation, Dr. Mike Baker from Cornell University will use the data to determine the trends on a state-wide basis.
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December 19, 2025
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2025 Cornell Food Beverage & Animal Feed Manufacturer Survey
December 19, 2025
Industry and Educational Advocates for New York State's Food, Beverage, and Animal Feed Manufacturing industries:
As you know, NYS has a diverse food and beverage manufacturing industry, in both the types of industries that exist and the wide distribution of firms by scale. Many manufacturing firms have strong backward linkages to agricultural production sectors in the state that support both farm-level and downstream food industry firms and consumers. In collaboration with the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets, a team from Cornell University's Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management has recently rolled out the 2025 New York State Food, Beverage, and Animal Feed Manufacturer Survey. The industry will benefit from an updated assessment of the industry that informs private and public investments and opportunities to support firm growth and improved profitability.
Cornell Organic Field Crops & Dairy Conference
March 6, 2026
Waterloo, NY
Farmers, researchers, educators, and agricultural service providers from across the Northeast are invited to the 2026 Cornell Organic Field Crops & Dairy Conference, held Friday, March 6, 2026, from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Lux Hotel & Conference Center in Waterloo, N.Y.
Co-hosted by New York Soil Health and Cornell CALS, the annual conference brings together leaders in organic grain, dairy, and livestock systems to share practical tools, new research, and farmer-tested strategies to support resilient and profitable organic production.
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