Marketing, Management, and Behavior

This capstone unit integrates showing and selling, business management, common production errors, and bovine behavior to prepare students for responsible beef cattle operations. It builds on foundational husbandry and health skills from earlier units and readies students for advanced coursework or entry-level industry roles.

Learning Objectives

• Analyze factors that influence show and sale outcomes (animal conformation, health status, market trends, and presentation) and set measurable target sale goals for individual cattle
• Apply proper handling, grooming, and documentation techniques to prepare cattle for shows and commercial sale, including halter work, bathing/clipping, fitting, health certificates, and bill of sale procedures
• Demonstrate business management skills by developing and presenting a 12-month budget and recordkeeping system for a small beef operation that includes cost of production, pricing strategy, and projected profit/loss
• Evaluate ten common management mistakes and a range of bovine behavioral signals to recommend corrective actions that improve animal welfare, handler safety, and overall profitability