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Motivations for exiting hog production in the 1990s and incentives for re‐entry
Author(s) -
Lawrence John D.,
Wang Erda
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
agribusiness
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.57
H-Index - 43
eISSN - 1520-6297
pISSN - 0742-4477
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1520-6297(199811/12)14:6<453::aid-agr3>3.0.co;2-t
Subject(s) - production (economics) , demographics , competition (biology) , incentive , business , agricultural economics , agricultural science , economics , marketing , market economy , microeconomics , ecology , demography , environmental science , sociology , biology
A survey of Iowa farmers who quit raising hogs between 1991–1997 quantified the demographics of the enterprises and operators, motivations for leaving, and prospects for re‐entering hog production. The median enterprise size was 500 head marketed a year, yet hogs accounted for 40% of farm income. While 30% increased another enterprise or off‐farm employment, 45% reported simply working less. Economic forces were cited for quitting hogs, but over 80% of the farmers did not know their cost of production. Higher operating margins and restrictions on competition were needed before these farmers would produce hogs again. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.