Merrimack Tractor Case Summary

I was really excited to read the article “Power Steer” by Michael Pollen. I’ve seen several of his books at local book stores, as well as different television shows featuring his work. The purpose of Michael Pollen’s article was to educate himself and others on the process of producing industrial steak in America, and making a financial profit along the way. He felt that “Ignorance was no longer tenable.” In doing so, Michael decided to purchase an 8 month old calf numbered 534 for $598. This totaled $1.60 a day for room and board due to the cattle not being weaned yet. Throughout Michael’s educational journey, he was able to learn about the different problems associated with animal feeding operations. This includes health problems that cattle could cause to humans, such as

When it comes to feeding show cattle many raisers have certain feeding strategies that they follow, ensuring they can maintain their goal on winning. Along with feeding it takes exercise so that one’s show calf will not become stout nor stubborn. Certain aspects are necessary to show an animal

October 15, 1934 was a very dry year we had less than 10 inches of rain from January 1st to October 1st 1934. With the lack of rain my crops did not grow well at all. Not only did my crops not grow well but I only harvested 500 bushels of wheat… Which is less than the 2,800 I was expecting to harvest, and now we only 500 gallons of potable water left. I don’t know when it will rain again but winter is near and I need plan to provide for my family. Not only do I need to feed my family but I have male bull and female Jersey cow. I need to be resourceful here. I had now decided to eat the bull. Keep the cow alive but don’t feed it, drink the cow's milk, once production ceases, eat the wheat.

even as nicely controlled, placed, and monitored, CAFOs can offer a low-fee supply of meat, milk, and eggs, because of inexperienced feeding and housing of animals, extended facility duration, and animal specialization (Molden, D. et al., 2007). while CAFOs are proposed in a neighborhood region, it's also argued that they may beautify the nearby financial machine and growth employment (Garnett, T., 2008). The results of the usage of nearby substances, feed, and cattle are argued to ripple throughout the monetary gadget, and extended tax charges will result in multiplied finances for colleges and infrastructure (Carrie,

The sales-value at splitoff method captures the benefits-received criterion of cost allocation and is the preferred method. The costs of processing a chicken are allocated to products in proportion to the ability to contribute revenue. Chicken Little’s decision to process chicken is heavily influenced by the revenues from breasts and thighs. The bones provide relatively few benefits to Chicken Little despite their high physical volume.

To minimize the N.E.B the cow should be in the correct body condition before calving down, a score of 3.0 is appropriate. If the cow is too fat the she will not have the appetite to eat in early lactation which will affect the peak milk yield. It is key that the food intake is maximized post calving therefore the cow should have ad libitum access to forage at all time, the forage should also be of a high quality in early lactation, this is not as important when you move down the cycle. To overcome any limitations of forage concentrates like Molasses and Maize should also be used. A good concentrate mix for a dairy cow should contain starch sources of varying degradabilites, Molasses is rapidly degradable source while maize is a slowly degradable source of starch. There are two methods for feeding concentrates, in parlour and out of parlour. In parlour feeding systems the parlours are fitted with concentrate dispensing hoppers which dispense into the feed manger. A cow will receive 5kg per milking while a heifer will receive 4kg per milking. Out of parlour feeding is where feed is given out by transponders, in small amounts very often. Picture 1 shows an in parlour feeder system.

The top four meatpacking businesses hold 20 percent of the nation’s cattle in company owned feedlots or cattle bought before-hand, sometimes using secret pricing contracts (138). These farmers are doing everything they can to make a living. This includes rotation practices that big companies would never care about.

Section 330-10-35-9 states that the most common method is to apply the lower of cost or market to each individual item of inventory. However, Section 330-10-35-10 states that when there is more than one ending product, the application of the lower of cost or market rule to the total of the items included in such major categories may result in the most useful determination of income. Therefore, since the company has three different types of inventory (live hogs ready for sale, developing animals, and processed pork products) and there are different types of ending products (live animals and processed products suchs as loins, hams, and bacon) the lower of cost or market should be applied to the total of the items included in such major categories, i.e. live hogs ready for sale, developing animals, and processed pork products.

The conditions in which meat livestock live in is not exactly that of a large open green field in which they are free to roam and be merry. In the Economist article, Cows down: The beef business (2008) the effects of the ill conditions cows talks of how a

The author uses firsthand knowledge and personal experiences to find common ground with the opposition and turn the finger at the cattle industry instead. Furthermore, her down to earth style and descriptive language establishes her ethos and makes her argument more persuadable. Hasselstrom was successful, in spite of her bias, because she defined her principles, educated the uninformed, and unified the involved parties so solutions ways of thinking could

Industrial agriculture is currently the predominant food production system in the United States. It is distinguished by large-scale monoculture, abundant use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, and meat production in CAFOs. CAFOs are ‘Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations’, otherwise known as factory farms, which aim to cram as many animals in one space to boost efficiency and profit at the expense of animal suffering and environmental hazards.

Taking into consideration that the weight of the cows is a key driver of calf weight, which in turn is the key driver of revenue.

Minimize the loss to the business by treating the animals humanely. Instead of injecting the animals with growth hormone, let them grow naturally. Cows won’t get udder infections and won’t need antibiotics (an unnecessary cost to the business). Give the animals more space and let them graze on the land as they would naturally and you won’t need preventative antibiotics. More space will help the animals grow and live as they were meant to. They will not be stressed. Their bones will not be brittle. Chickens can be stunned as they were meant to be before being slaughtered, the humane way.

Heifer: Since some of cattle that TFI has, have not yet been weaned. According to ASC905-330-35-2, heifers and steers that TFI have are developing animal. Therefore we should record it by using lower the cost or market method. NRV=MV=70000-2000=$68,000, which is greater than its cost $50,000, so we need to record the original cost ($50,000) of heifer.

First, we have identified if there is really an insufficiency in the amount of selling prices set by the Sales Department, in reference to Exhibit 1 of the case. We did this through identifying the maximum amount of overhead costs that the company can incur for the three products and comparing it with the total overhead costs. See Table 1 for details.