Both federal and state governments in the United States are being asked to enact laws that would make slaughtering of horses for human consumption illegal. In the past, the United States was one of the principal exporters of horsemeat to Europe. This paper examines the impacts of a proposed ban...

Antibiotics have been used by pig producers for several decades, and are now used routinely. This study documents the current productivity and economic impacts of the use of antibiotics for growth promotion (AGP) by pig grower/finishers at the farm level. We evaluate the impacts of an AGP ban,...

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...

The beef industry’s share of domestic meat demand continues to decline, as increasing vertical coordination in pork and poultry contribute to these industries’ ability to offer convenient, consistent, and less expensive products. For such vertical coordination to be effective,...

Prices transmit information regarding the underlying quality of a product; when quality is unknown to both buyers and sellers, theory predicts that the same price should be charged for all products. However, in the Thoroughbred industry, difference fees are charged to breed to freshman sires,...

Many Thoroughbred stallions are being bred to increasing numbers of mares. This practice raises the question of how progeny value is affected by an increased supply of foals by the same sire, which ultimately influences the sire’s value. This paper addresses that question. Three of the...