K-State Ag Today: Many younger producers taking stocker route

K-State Ag Today:

Many younger producers taking stocker route

While the beef cattle industry is expected to shrink even more, there seems to be no shortage of younger, newer producers ready to enter the business. Wes Ishmael, contributing editor of "Beef Magazine," addressed producers at the recent Beef Stocker Day at Kansas State University.

Ishmael says there are plenty of opportunities in the beef industry.

"The stocker phase of the business continues to be an accessible entry point to young producers, and to newer cattle producers, if you will, because while the equity requirement on any phase of the business is going up, and risk increases. It is still a place where folks can dive in," Ishmael said. "And we saw that, I want to say, about half of the pure stocker operations out there had been in the business 20 years or less, which is relatively young in this business."

Ishmael adds that producers age 35 to 44 tend to run more stocker cattle than the other age groups.

"With that said, when you look at the relatively small percentage of operators that run a thousand or more head of cattle, those producers are typically at least 55 years old, according to the survey," he said.

You can find more information at your local extension office or at the links below.

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