Swine production networks are becoming a significant part of the Minnesota swine industry, with at least 30 production networks in operation as of late 1995. There are probably at least 450 producers involved, representing at least nine percent of the state s sow inventory. Not counted in these...

One aspect of increasing market channel coordination in the swine industry is the offering of long-term market contracts by pork processors to swine producers. This paper seeks to examine the existing contracts and develop a theoretical framework for analyzing jointly optimal levels of contracting.

These papers describe the current economic conditions and outline some of the opportunities facing Minnesota farmers as they complete 1998 and develop plans for 1999. The first paper, Prospects For Farm Income in 1998, describes the variation in net farm income farmers in the Southeastern and...