KG MarketSense surveyed over 800 cow/calf producers with more than 200 mature cows and 200 vets to learn their perspectives on various business and animal health issues.

“The survey results reflect the uncertainty and some of the challenges of securing profits in this market,” says David Soorholtz, president of KG MarketSense. “Not surprisingly, most cow/calf producers, as well as veterinarians, anticipate their business will stay the same size as they look to the next three years.”

48% of producers anticipate 2017 will be as profitability as 2016. A quarter of producers surveyed expect a more profitable year while 27% say it will be less. Vets expressed similar expectations for their business with just more than half anticipating their business to be the same profitability wise in 2017.

Cattle prices were a #1 concern along with weather, input costs, the veterinary feed directive. 70% of producers say their operation will stay the same size and over half of the vets said it would stay the same and one third plan to expand.

The survey found significant differences in both Internet and email use; veterinarians are more likely to use both the Internet and email on a frequent basis with 88 percent using the Internet at least weekly. While nearly three-fourths of producers use the Internet at least weekly, a quarter say they rarely or never use it.

Half of producers and veterinarians say they check their email daily. More than a third of producers do not or rarely check email while only 10 percent of veterinarians say they do not or rarely check email.