The U.S. dairy industry is undergoing rapid structural change, evolving from a structure including many small farmers in the Upper Midwest and Northeast to one that includes very large farms in new production regions. Small farms are struggling to retain competitiveness via improved management...

Professional meat buyers are surveyed to estimate their current and past use of ostrich meat and their preferences for different ostrich meat products. Conjoint analysis is used to estimate the most preferred ostrich meat products for the retail and restaurant sectors, as well as the relative...

<Para ID="Par1">Adoption rates of 19 dairy technologies, management practices, and production systems (TMPPS) are estimated for the U.S. for 2005 and 2010 and, in cases where data are available, 1993 and 2000. Logit models are estimated to determine types of farms most likely to use each TMPPS. TMPPS...</para>

Technical efficiency, scale and scope economies, marginal productive contributions for inputs and outputs, and efficiency drivers were determined for the Southeastern U.S meat goat enterprise. The average technical efficiency was 0.88. We find increasing returns to scale and scope economies for...

A survey was conducted to determine U.S. grass-fed beef producer perceptions of important challenges facing the industry. The most important challenges facing grass-fed beef producers were shortage of processors, lack of a clear marketing system, pasture management problems, and the long period...

Increasing obesity rates and associated poor diets are a major concern in the U.S. The USDA recommends that Americans increase fruit and vegetable intake. This study examines produce availability in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Results indicate that competition, store type, and income may be...

We estimate a production function for U.S. dairy farming to examine the productivity of organic and non-organic dairy production by system and size. Across organic/non-organic systems and size classes, size is the major determinant of competitiveness based on various measures of productivity and...

This study examines preferences for cattle traits using mixed logit and latent class models. Choice experiment data from a 2013 mail survey of 1,052 U.S. grass-fed beef producers were used. Preliminary results indicate that producers prefer lower-priced, heavy, black, and easy-to-handle feeders...

Grass-fed beef cost and returns survey data from 2012 were analyzed to measure technical efficiency of GFB farms in the U.S. We found all inputs with expected signs. The average technical efficiency of GFB was 70% and the farms are operating with increasing returns to scale.