Determination of the profitability of the post-weaning in beef cattle in the Mendoza Province, Argentina

Profitability of beef cattle post-weaning in Mendoza Province was determined for different production and economic scenarios. The postulated hypothesis was that profitability depends on productivity scales and their relationship with the scenarios considered. Information was derived from interviews to producers and key informants and from specialized publications. Internal rate of return (IRR) and net present value (NPV) were estimated for the different productive scenarios. The number of animals year(1) required to reach an IRR higher than 12% was always lower on rental than those on own land. The post-weaning in Mendoza could be technical and economical feasible. The most important factors influencing the number of animals produced per year to reach profitability were, in decreasing order of importance, ranges of entry and exit animal liveweight, increase in investment and operating costs, liveweight price and daily liveweight gains. Considering the animal price at March 2010 the post-weaning economic units without compensation could be 674 and 772 animals per year in rental and own land, respectively.