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Harlan Hughes

Harlan Hughes is a North Dakota State University professor emeritus and author of the monthly "Market Advisor" column that appears in BEEF magazine. He also consults and lectures widely, making presentations on ranch business management at various state, regional and national beef industry events. He retired as the NDSU Extension livestock economist in 2000 and now lives in Laramie, WY.

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Harlan’s Recent activity

Cattle, price cycles return with a vengeance
Cattle, price cycles return with a vengeance
Nov 28, 2016
The return of the cattle cycle’s boom and bust eras has come with a vengeance. Cattle prices spent a large part of 2016 going down and down. Each month’s October 2016 price projection for the last six-plus months has...
Alternative cattle marketing decisions for tough times
Alternative cattle marketing decisions for tough times
Oct 31, 2016
This year is turning out to be a tough year for beef cow producers, as fall calf prices have trended down most of the year. Starting in November 2015, I generated monthly October 2016 price projections for weaned...
Post-weaning marketing strategies
Post-weaning marketing strategies
Sep 15, 2016
As we progress further and further through 2016, it becomes more and more apparent that the economics of running a beef cow herd in 2016 for a profit is going to be tough. As of late July, feeder cattle futures prices...
Reduce calving interval, increase profit per cow
Reduce calving interval, increase profit per cow
Aug 01, 2016
As beef cattle prices work their way down in the current cattle cycle, it behooves ranchers to focus on lowering costs of production. In all my years of working with ranchers on costs of production, I found that the...
Do your cows stack up?
Do your cows stack up?
Jun 27, 2016
Benchmarking is the management process of comparing your herd’s production and economic numbers to the average of a set of benchmark herds to identify your herd’s strengths and weaknesses. Benchmarking helps direct...
Price implications of the next cattle cycle
Price implications of the next cattle cycle
May 24, 2016
Last month I suggested that the next cattle cycle is alive and well, and laid out my projected long-run cattle numbers going into the next decade. My foundation for these projections was the FAPRI (Food and Policy...
What to expect from the upcoming cattle cycle
What to expect from the upcoming cattle cycle
Apr 25, 2016
One of the important economic impacts of the 2013 and 2014 cattle markets was the herd expansion that was triggered, setting in motion the next cattle cycle. Barring major future shocks such as droughts or national...
Projected lifetime returns: Bred heifers
Projected lifetime returns: Bred heifers
Apr 11, 2016
Last month I focused on the economic cost of developing a preg-checked heifer in the fall of 2016. This month I will focus on the challenges that you and I face in projecting lifetime economic returns of adding preg...
2016 beef enterprise cost outlook: Bred heifers
2016 beef enterprise cost outlook: Bred heifers
Feb 18, 2016
Our current beef price whirlwind is not only impacting feeder cattle and slaughter cattle prices, it is also dramatically impacting the cost to develop replacement heifers. Heifers born in the spring of 2014 and...
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