Over a 15 year period, the average cattle feeding profit in the Upper Midwest was about $35/head. This was the net profit, with yardage covering feeding expenses including labor.

Why bother for that small of a profit? Three things I see that keep guys feeding - the ability to add value to homegrown feed, the value of manure as fertilizer, and because the return to your equity still outperforms the stock market (and I suppose because people love doing it, because God knows if you didn't love it there wouldn't be enough to make it worthwhile).

If you can do a better than average job of managing your bunks and rations and get a better than average feed conversion, it's realistic to double that number.