Dr. Minfeng Tang will present "Seasonal Variation in Fed Cattle Profitability Including Both Production and Price Risk," during the Agricultural Economics Seminar Series. Production risk and price risk are two major issues faced by cattle producers, and both sources of risk are conditional on the season the animal is fed and marketed. This paper examines seasonal variation of fed cattle profitability by considering seasonality of choice-select price spread and seasonal weather impact on cattle feedlot performance and carcass characteristics, which are empirically modeled incorporating precipitation and Comprehensive Climate Index.

Dr. Tang has a strong interest in applied research with practical implications for producers and private stakeholders in agriculture production especially livestock production. His graduate research on beef cattle production has examined multiple aspects of beef cattle supply chain covering seedstock, cow-calf, and feedlot operations. He is currently a research associate in the Beef Cattle Institute at Kansas State University. His current research projects focus on sustainable beef cattle production through optimized rangeland grazing balancing social, environmental, and economic benefits. Minfeng Tang holds a Ph.D. degree in Agricultural Economics from Purdue University, West Lafayette, and a M.S. degree in Agricultural Economics with minor in Statistics from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.