To sustain and improve profit potential in a cattle market characterized by peaks and valleys, cow-calf operators must know how their operations are performing from both a production and financial standpoint.

The Texas Agricultural Extension Service is offering a Cow-calf Standardized Performance Analysis (SPA) Workshop May 7 at the Texas A&M Research and Extension Center located south of Vernon.

The course begins at 8:30 a.m. This will be a working workshop where the ranchers will be assisted in completing their own analysis. SPA provides ranchers an opportunity to analyze their productivity and financial stability.

SPA facilitates the comparison of an operation's performance between years, producers, production regions, and production systems. SPA is intended as an annual tool for the cow-calf producer.

Sponsors say the workshop will help ranchers complete an analysis for the 2002 calf crop. Registered operators will be sent forms to organize data before the conference. Confidentiality of the producer's data will be maintained. Individual conferences will be held, and ach ranch will be provided an assistant and a computer. Early registration will be essential so producers can be advised on how to organize data for the SPA analysis

Registration fee is $100 per ranch and includes the software, educational materials, lunch and refreshments. For additional information or to register by contact Stan Bevers at Vernon at (940) 552-9941.