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Abstract
THE NUMBER of beef cattle which beef
producers plan to keep on farms is due
largely to the prices they expect to receive for
feeder calves or slaughter animals. In this
paper simple relationships between cattle numbers
and past prices are constructed to embody
the latest price information available for estimating
beef cattle numbers from 6 months to
more than a year in advance.1 The relationships
have been deliberately kept simple so that they
can be used conveniently. In addition to prices
used in these relationships, many other events
must be examined by the forecaster to see
whether they will influence the decision to keep
more or fewer cattle on farms.