This study analyzes the determinants of TE among traditional dairy farms in the State of Wisconsin taking into account dairy farms’ heterogeneity. To do so, we first estimate a production frontier and the level of TE using the SPF framework. Then we analyze the determinants of TI using a...

The increasing use of production contracts in the hog sector has reduced the number of spot market transactions, raised concerns about price manipulation and helped to spur legislation requiring price reporting by packers. Using data from the 2002 and 2007 Censuses of Agriculture, this study...

We develop a framework in which the cost of producing a quantity food and the cost of food safety differs across firms. We show that large firms may supply the safest food even though small firms have a cost advantage in producing safe food. The model shows that mandatory traceability can...

Prion diseases have raised concerns in consumer’s minds about food safety associated with meat world-wide. Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) and Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) both exist in Canada and consumer markets for beef, bison, elk and deer may have been affected by the diseases....

In recent decades there has been a substantial increase in the scale of production and the use of production contracts in the hog sector. This paper explores empirically whether these two phenomena are related by examining whether the use of production contracts has allowed finish hog operations...