Feedlot costs of beef cattle in the city of Colômbia, SP

Beef cattle feedlots make it possible to intensify meat production, since a large number of animals are concentrated in small areas. Presently, the mains problems faced by livestock farmer are the high cost of the activity, a return of the animal weight and uncertainties of the market. In this sense, the objective of this study was to analyze the economic indexes of a typical feedlot in Brazil and to identify the main items that affected the activity. A total of 2,579 Nellore bulls were confined in a farm located in the municipality of Colombia, state of Sao Paulo for a period of 110 days. Adaptation, growth and finishing diets were offered with a duration of 14, 40 and 56 days, respectively. Economic indicators, such as gross margin, contribution margin index and break-even point, were analyzed in a descriptive way and grouped into tables. The activity resulted in a total revenue of R $ 7.9 million. The components of the operational cost that have the greatest influence on the costs of the feedlot activity are acquisition of the animals (67.36%), food (22.46%), miscellaneous expenses (5.07%), labor (3.4%), freight (1.49%), health (0.09%) and taxes (0.04%). The analysis resulted in a net profit of R$ 450,000 and a profit margin of 5.7%. The components of the effective operational cost that exert the greatest influence on the costs of the feedlot activity are the acquisition of the animals and the feeding. The economic indexes indicated that the activity was profitable and is paying in the short term