One hundred and eighty five cow-calf enterprises were analyzed for production and financial performance measures that may affect profitability. Results of these analyses would indicate that for cow-calf enterprises in the Northern Great Plains, high levels of profit are a function of lower than average levels of investment, at least average levels of biological production (with particular attention paid to measures of weaning and pregnancy percentage), achieved with lower than average total

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... nses, and higher than average market values for calves produced. Neither high nor low levels of production, geographical region, size of operation, or year were factors that explained differences in profitability. The levels of profitability measured as return on assets (ROA) in the High Profit group are competitive with opportunities available in other sectors of the economy. The profit levels in the Medium and Low Profit groups are not competitive, and the long-term sustainability of the operations in these groups would be difficult without other sources of income and investment.