At the 2006 Cornbelt Cow-Calf Conference, Mike Kasten, a commercial producer from Missouri, who is a member of an alliance that sells bred heifers to other producers, outlined their costs of heifer development. Heifers are fed to gain 1.75 to 2.00 lbs per day from weaning to first breeding season in order to achieve optimal reproductive performance. Their costs could likely serve as a benchmark for other cow-calf producers in the Midwest. Following is a summary of their average costs.

Item	Cost, $
Grains (2550 lbs)	$163.20
Forage (pasture and hay)	$66.66
Veterinary and vaccines	$11.48
Breeding fees (semen and synchronizing)	$32.87
Clean-up bull	$6.27
Open heifer charge	$18.27
Interest on heifer	$38.81
Interest on feed	$5.11
Labor	$40.86
Sale expense	$40.00
Total variable costs	$423.98
Value of heifer at weaning	$674.25
Total all costs	$1098.23

As shown above, feed costs accounted for 54% of variable costs, which is slightly lower than for most cow-calf operations (SOURCE: Proceedings, 35th Annual Cornbelt Cow-Calf Conf., Feb. 25, 2006, Pella, IA).