Food safety problems such as the BSE and dioxin crises focused attention on traceability systems and the certification of such systems. This study analyzes the status and perspectives of traceability systems and certification schemes, and reviews their potential costs and benefits. Results...

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...

This study investigates the underlying reasons for a producer's choice of marketing channels for stocker cattle in the United States. In addition to traditional public auctions, private sales, video auctions, and Internet auctions have been recently used in the marketing of stocker cattle....

Source-verified (SV) feeder cattle auctions were held in Bloomfield, Iowa, each October, November, and December from 1997-2000. This study compares price data from these SV auctions to traditional auctions at the same location to determine whether a premium exists for SV feeder cattle. Hedonic...

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...

This paper examines determinants of consumers’ willingness to pay a premium for grass-fed and organic dairy by using survey data collected from several south-eastern states. Ordered and Heckman probit regression techniques were used to identify the significance of consumer characteristics...

Pricing and technological innovation are discussed within the context of the beef industry’s value-based marketing initiative. Cash and contract marketing practices for fed cattle are addressed with respect to slaughter volume and pricing methods (live, dressed, and grid). A methodology...

This article shows how the solution to the promotion problem--—the problem of locating the optimal level of advertising in a downstream market--—can be derived simply, empirically, and robustly through the application of some simple calculus and Bayesian econometrics. We derive the...