This research provides baseline information about consumers' concerns, preferences, and market existence for pasture-raised pork in the Mississippi Delta area of Arkansas. Consumer preferences for pasture-raised pork are evaluated by examining the relationships between consumers' willingness to...

This analysis examines effects of several common assumptions on net present values (NPVs) of beef cows. While effects on NPVs vary over a price cycle or successive price cycles, several generalities manifest themselves. A cow is not likely to recover the lost revenue from not having just one...

Building on the 1997 work of Chezum and Wimmer, and the 1998 work of Lansford, Freeman, Topliff, and Walker, we estimated a hedonic hammer price model on a random and representative sample of 212 yearlings from the 1999 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. Explanatory variables representing day of...

The goal of this paper is to better understand how technological change has contributed to structural change in the U.S. livestock industry. The paper presents a cross-sector analysis of the diffusion of improved breeding technologies and industry structure in poultry, swine, dairy and beef...

The consolidation of pork production into fewer and larger operations has implications for rural agribusiness that have traditionally serviced producers. This study examines purchasing patterns of existing pork producers for production inputs by size of operation. Distance traveled to purchase...

Stochastic simulation of daily slaughter level was used in conjunction with an estimated packing plant cost curve to assess potential reductions in processing costs due to improved vertical coordination between feedlots and packing plants. Results indicate that processing cost reductions of $1...

In 1998, the Sara Lee Corporation implemented a corporate strategy of deverticalization. Bil Mar Foods, Inc., a subsidiary of Sara Lee responsible for the processing of packaged meat products, followed the strategy by shutting down its turkey slaughter facility in Zeeland, Michigan. As a...

Closeout data from two western Kansas commercial feedlots are examined to determine how cattle prices, feed costs, and animal performance impact the variability of cattle feeding profits. The relative impacts of these factors are studied across sex, placement weight, and placement month using...