Real-Life Math
Mark Canart owns and runs a cattle-buying company. He uses math
constantly to calculate the sales value of animals, his commission and his
budget among other things.
"[Math skills] are fairly important," he
says. One reason is that the Canadian and American livestock markets are closely
integrated. You must be able to calculate the exchange, says Canart.
An
average steer weighs 850 pounds. They are worth $0.81 per pound.
Freight
costs are $2.50 Cdn for every 100 pounds of steer that you ship. Plus, every
time livestock crosses the border, it must have the proper vaccination
documents. That costs you $0.50 Cdn for every 100 pounds of steer.
Plus,
you have to take into account the other costs associated with an animal --
the land you needed for grazing, the feed you had to buy for it, and more.
This cost comes to $103 Cdn per 100 pounds of steer.
Calculate your
profit in Canadian currency if you are selling 1,000 steers from Canada to
the U.S.
Remember:
$1 Cdn = $0.75 US