In this age of changing business structures throughout the beef
industry and impending federal programs that may require some
level of record keeping, it is important for managers to take the task
of record keeping just as seriously as the day-to-day production
tasks. Many producers are marketing cattle into systems that view
cattle individually and establish market value on their individual
merit. Th ese types of systems continue to grow and impact the
value of all cattle in the system. A potentially greater challenge/op-
portunity to cattle producers is the possibility for federally regulated
compliance to marketing and disease-control programs. Th is will
require some level of record keeping on the part of producers. In
either scenario, a good record system puts the producer at a distinct
advantage in the marketplace and protects that producer against
any potential liability that may be created in such a system.