Cattle on Feed (COF) reports are an important source of beef supply information. This study investigates whether COF report revisions are unbiased, random, and anticipated. Initial COF reports are biased, but the bias is economically small. Revisions to COF estimates are not random. Market...

Geographic markets are extremely important to agriculture because agricultural products are bulky and/or perishable and production and consumption areas are separated. This study investigates how mandatory price reporting has influenced the degree of spatial market integration between U.S....

Marketing fed cattle using grid pricing has become a popluar way to sell cattle. One of the most important beef characteristics, according to consumers, is beef tenderness. USDA quality grades are poor predictors of meat tenderness. However, mechanical shear force does objectively measure...

Contagious animal diseases like foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) are often referred to as economic diseases because of the magnitude of economic harm they can cause to producers and to local communities. This study demonstrates the local economic impact of a hypothetical FMD outbreak in southwest...

Debates about captive supplies have been ongoing for more than a decade. This study investigates the effects captive supplies have on the beef farm-to-wholesale marketing margin. A relative price spread (RPS) model is used to estimate beef farm-to-wholesale marketing margins. Estimates indicate...

Live cattle futures markets do not offer much opportunity for effective hedging of wholesale beef cuts. If a Choice-to-Select price spread futures contract were introduced this would enhance hedging effectiveness although likely not enough to encourage cross hedging. If a Choice boxed beef...

Beef carcasses, carcass premiums, carcass discounts, and grain prices are simulated. Random carcasses are priced according to random sets of market conditions defining a distribution of total and net revenues. Sensitivity analysis is performed to determine the total effect on revenue and net...