EVALUATING THE VALUE OF RECORD KEEPING IN DECISION MAKING ON COW/CALF OPERATIONS IN CANADA
| dc.contributor.advisor | Micheels, Eric | |
| dc.contributor.advisor | Larson, Kathy | |
| dc.contributor.committeeMember | Skolrud, Tristan | |
| dc.contributor.committeeMember | Waldner, Cheryl | |
| dc.contributor.committeeMember | Biermacher, Jon | |
| dc.creator | Wong, Brooklyn P | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2024-09-09T19:17:58Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2024-09-09T19:17:58Z | |
| dc.date.copyright | 2024 | |
| dc.date.created | 2024-07 | |
| dc.date.issued | 2024-09-09 | |
| dc.date.submitted | July 2024 | |
| dc.date.updated | 2024-09-09T19:17:58Z | |
| dc.description.abstract | Research regarding adoption of best management practices and benefits is abundant in the agriculture industry. Specifically, recent Canadian research has shown that record keeping and benchmarking practices are associated with increased productivity (Manglai, 2016) and it is important that managers have prompt and correct information on costs and production to make good business decisions (Maqbool, 2017). However, there has been little research around which specific records and characteristics influence the cow/calf producer’s satisfaction and decision-making confidence regarding animal production. In this thesis, I look more closely at what influences a rancher’s propensity to keep different records, and what rancher characteristics influence a rancher’s decision-making confidence with replacement selection and satisfaction with animal production performance. In this thesis I conducted interviews with cow-calf producers who provincial industry associations considered leading adopters of record keeping and developed questions included in a Canada-wide survey (n=351) on record collection and application. I used satisfaction and confidence as proxies for value of records given the previously known lack and inconsistency of suitable production measures (wean weight and financial ratios). Being an analytical rancher (consulting data and using logical reasoning when making decisions) was shown to have a positive influence on a rancher’s likelihood of being confident in each different animal production decision area. My results show that for ranchers, being analytical by tracking and analyzing their operation’s production status with records, increases the likelihood that they are confident in decisions. Understanding this relationship helps industry make the case when they encourage greater analysis of records kept when making decisions (versus intuitive decision making that may be influenced by memories and limited experience). Further, my results show that a rancher’s satisfaction with animal production performance was significantly and positively influenced by having high decision confidence, meaning ranchers who indicated they analyzed records when making decisions were more likely to be more satisfied with their decision-making process and more satisfied with the production performance of their herd. As well, ranchers who considered themselves to have an internal locus of control (a strong belief that their success is reliant on their own actions) were more likely to have increased satisfaction which could be a result from them being incentivized to act in a way that they have control over their outcomes on the ranch. This knowledge can help industry continue to reassure ranchers that choosing to be intentional with their management styles will increase their satisfaction and therefore outcomes. | |
| dc.format.mimetype | application/pdf | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://hdl.handle.net/10388/15980 | |
| dc.language.iso | en | |
| dc.subject | Record Keeping, Cow Calf, Canadian, Ranchers, Decision-making, Analytical, Intuitive, Value of Records, Agriculture, Agriculture Economics | |
| dc.title | EVALUATING THE VALUE OF RECORD KEEPING IN DECISION MAKING ON COW/CALF OPERATIONS IN CANADA | |
| dc.type | Thesis | |
| dc.type.material | text | |
| thesis.degree.department | Agricultural and Resource Economics | |
| thesis.degree.discipline | Agricultural Economics | |
| thesis.degree.grantor | University of Saskatchewan | |
| thesis.degree.level | Masters | |
| thesis.degree.name | Master of Science (M.Sc.) |