Alternative Methods of Accounting for Livestock Capital Formation: An Application to Southern U.S. Agriculture*

This paper presents empirical estimates of livestock capital formation and disposition on farms in 14 southern U.S. states during 1974. Livestock capital is defined to include dairy and beef breeding cows. Concern with measuring the formation and disposition of livestock capital stems from the demand for knowledge of its importance as farm input, output and investment and from its inconsistent treatment given it in current USDA statistical series and the subsequent impact on farm income measurement.

The objectives of this study are to present new information on dairy and beef cow capital formation and disposition via development of a cow capital flows account, and to provide a perspective on the importance of this information by incorporating it into estimates of farm income.