The traditional minimum cost feed ration linear programming model is expanded to permit risk management responses to price variability associated with feeding a particular ration across time. The cost minimizing objective function also considers feed cost in a mean-variance (E-V) framework. The...

When consumers have heterogeneous perceptions about product quality, traditional parametric methods may not provide accurate marginal valuation estimates of a product’s characteristics. A quantile regression framework can be used to estimate valuations of product characteristics when...

Japanese import demand for U.S. beef and pork products and the effects on domestic livestock prices are econometrically estimated. Japan is the most important export market for U.S. beef and pork products. Results indicate foreign income, exchange rates, and protectionist measures are...

In responding to a comment article, we concur that quantifying U.S. livestock price response to changing Japanese met import demand requires nonzero supply elasticities beyond one quarter. However, rigidities in market trade and empirical tests justify the inclusion of exchange rates in the...

The national four-firm concentration ratio in the lamb slaughtering and processing industry increased from 55 percent in 1980 to 70 percent in 1992. The effect of increasing lamb packer concentration on lamb marketing margins is examined. A relative price spread (RPS) model for farm-to-wholesale...

This study determines the relative effects of price, cattle quality, and feeding performance factors on profit per head for fed cattle marketed via a grid structure. Two different data sets of cattle that were marketed in two different grid pricing systems are used in the analysis with...

Beef tenderness is critical in consumer satisfaction with beef steak products. Current fed cattle valuation systems do not differentiate carcasses based upon tenderness variation. However, considerable research indicates consumers are willing to pay more for tender relative to tough beef steak....

Cattle producers and beef packers need to understand basis determinants as they develop price expectations and make pricing, hedging, and forward contracting decisions. This study empirically estimated factors explaining variability in monthly fed cattle basis. The five main results regarding...

Cattle feeding enterprises operate amid variability originating in prices and production. This research explicitly models yield risks related to cattle feeding by relating the mean and variance of yield performance factors to observable conditioning variables. The results demonstrate that pen...

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 FMD outbreak in southwest Kansas. The...