Net returns in 1971 were record high on viable commercial cattle ranches in the Northern Plains and the Northern Rocky Mountain areas, 2 of the most important cow-calf producing areas in the United States. Record-high prices received for calves contributed most to higher returns. Better than average range conditions the last 5 years, a record-large breeding herd, calving rate, and calf market weights, and lower death loss also contributed to the top returns in the Northern Plains. In the Rocky Mountain area livestock prices advanced a little more than in the Plains but range conditions were less favorable than a year earlier and there was little change in breeding herd size. However, with calving rates remaining at the 1970 record level, and with lower death losses and new highs for calf market weights, total livestock marketings topped 1970's record by almost 5 percent.