Cow-calf profit per head in Mississippi

Mississippi cow-calf operations generated approximately $985 in gross revenue per cow in 2024, driven by an assumed 85% weaning rate on 525 lb calves sold into a Southeast feeder market averaging $2.80-$3.00/lb. That revenue line is the highest nominal figure the state has seen, reflecting the tightest US beef cow inventory since 1961 and aggressive feedlot demand pulling calves out of the Southern Seaboard region.

Cash costs in Mississippi run near $820 per cow, above the Southern Seaboard regional average reported by USDA ERS. The cost structure is dominated by purchased hay, commercial fertilizer for bermudagrass and bahiagrass pastures, mineral supplementation, and veterinary expense. Mild winters shorten the hay-feeding window to roughly 90-120 days, but fescue toxicosis and summer slump force supplemental feeding that Plains producers avoid, keeping cash costs stubbornly high relative to revenue.

Once non-cash charges of roughly $260 per cow for unpaid operator labor, machinery depreciation, and land opportunity cost are layered on, MSU Extension budgets show total economic profit near -$95 per head even in the strong 2024 price environment. The $165 net cash income figure is what actually hits the checkbook, and it is what allows most part-time Mississippi cow-calf operators - who dominate the state's roughly 17,000 beef operations - to justify staying in the business while treating land appreciation and lifestyle as the real return.