Managing risk is required for farm enterprises to be profitable. Contractual agreements - such as livestock leases - can be crafted to loan or transfer assets, while also sharing risk. The beef cow share agreement is one example that allows individuals with complimentary inputs to benefit from...

One of the main goals of livestock price forecasts is to reduce the risk associated with decisions that producers make. Thus, the producers need instruments that decrease or at least identify the risk, and help the producer's decision. The Lean Hog Futures is a single location where anyone with...

Cattle prices follow a fairly predictable seasonal pattern, therefore it is possible to forecast prices based on the current price and the assumption that history is a predictor of the future.

In the United States (U.S.), there is no uniform traceability regulation across food sector. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) implemented one-step back and one-step forward traceability over the industries under its jurisdiction. U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), which oversees meat,...

Participants in U.S. markets for live cattle increasingly rely on federal grading standards to price slaughtered animals. This change is due to the growing prominence of ﾓgridﾔ pricing mechanisms that specify explicit premiums and discounts contingent on an animal's graded quality...

This book brings together in one publication the latest information and research findings of internationally renowned experts to help market participants understand how best to utilize distillers grains both in the U.S. domestic market and in international export markets. The book discusses how...

In spite of media reports to the contrary, the higher corn prices have not impacted the retail price of meat and milk - yet. Through mid-2008 supplies of beef, pork, poultry and milk are all higher than they were a year earlier and producers are absorbing the loss from higher feed costs....

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Beef cowherds are capital-intensive enterprises and should be viewed as other capital investments. Beef cowherd owners can benefit from incorporating price signals into their heifer retention decisions.

Risk is defined as the chance of an unfavorable outcome. This simple definition means that we focus on the "bad" things that may or may not happen (lower selling prices, higher input prices, high mortality or morbidity).