Grid pricing is an increasingly popular method of pricing fed cattle. However, there are several issues related to grid pricing. This paper discusses those issues and alternatives both for base prices in grids and the premium-discount grids themselves. Included is information on the status of...

Objectives were twofold: Determine key factors influencing preconditioning cost and returns; and determine the premium for age and source verified, preconditioned calves sold at a public livestock market. Data provided by the Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation show preconditioning returns depend...

Captive supplies have been a contentious issue in the livestock industry for fifteen years and the subject of both theoretical and empirical research. In 2001, mandatory price reporting was implemented. One objective by its proponents was to increase the amount of information available on...

Preconditioning calf programs, while not new, are becoming more prevalent. They provide benefits to cow-calf producers while adding value for feeder cattle buyers. However, questions remain regarding the marginal returns from marketing preconditioned calves exceeds the marginal costs for...

Consumers reveal preferences for fresh beef attributes through their retail beef purchases. Hedonic pricing methods were used to estimate the value consumers place on observable characteristics of fresh beef products, especially on retail beef brands. Primary data were collected from 65 randomly...

Clear and continuing changes in the structure of the U.S. meatpacking industry have significantly increased economic concentration since the mid-1970s. Concentration levels are among the highest of any industry in the United States, and well above levels generally considered to elicit...

Economic theory suggests that adding a competitive buyer to a market should have positive effects on competition and prices, ceteris paribus. An additional buyer increases market demand, shifting demand to the right, and expands the number of active buyers, reducing average market shares of...