The U.S. poultry industry has spent considerable resources to date preparing for an outbreak of avian influenza in this country. This research quantifies the potential effects of two alternative avian influenza scenarios on the poultry industry. In addition, this research looks at effects on...

Results of surveys sent to plant managers of eleven firms representing 25 percent of the U.S. broiler volume were used to estimate HACCP implementation costs for poultry kill plants and to perform welfare analysis. First-year welfare losses were $70 million for the broiler industry. There were...

This study presents a unique view on the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service (USDA FSIS) implementation of the so-called "Mega-Reg" authorizing establishment of regulatory hazard analysis and critical control point (HACCP) procedures. Surveys were sent to plant managers of the 11 firms...

The Oklahoma Food Cooperative (OFC) facilitates transactions between producers and consumers of locally-grown food items. Although the OFC has more than 3,000 members, the cooperative is still working to discover member needs and ensure its long-term sustainability. Both consumer-members and...

Consumer expenditures on purchases of food away from home have risen in recent years to nearly half of consumer food budgets. Using the monthly National Restaurant Association Restaurant Performance Index, we seek to determine the factors that influence this index. Macroeconomic factors and...

Fewer small meat processing plants combined with increased demand for locally-grown and process-verified meat products in recent years have spurred interest in the construction of producer-owned processing facilities. To help producers and Extension specialists develop preliminary feasibility...

In-person interviews were carried out with Mexican millers who were administered a conjoint-type survey designed to incorporate uncertainty in attribute levels. Two methods were used to model millers’ risk preferences: a modified mean-variance approach and an explicit expected utility...