Enter a lot the way you'd actually buy it. The model shows what the surface math hides — the price slide, the all-in cost of gain, your true breakeven, and whether the market will lock you a profit.
⚠️ Illustrative defaults — not market quotes. Change every input to your numbers. The model informs the decision; it doesn't make it.
New to "feeder futures"? It's a contract (traded on the CME) that lets you lock in a sale price today for cattle you'll sell months from now. If that locked price beats your breakeven, you can hedge — guarantee the profit no matter what the market does later. If it's below breakeven, the market is telling you you'd be buying into a loss. That's the LOCK IT vs. WAIT read below.
The lot
Buy weight550 lb
Buy price$4.40/lb
Sell (target) weight850 lb
Sell price$3.60/lb
ESTIMATE
Days on feed150
Head count100
Death loss2.0%
Interest rate (on capital)8.5%
Corn$4.50/bu
ESTIMATE
Cost of gain (manual)$1.05/lb
Feeder futures (your sell month)$3.60/lb
ESTIMATE
The read
Net profit / head
Breakeven $/lb
All-in cost of gain
Net profit / lot
This is the core lot model. The full system also runs the whole herd, risk scenarios, weather, and exception management. See the full walkthrough →