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Regional Shifts in Pork Production: Implications for Competition and Food Safety
Author(s) -
Önal Hayri,
Unnevehr Laurian,
Bekric Aleksandar
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
american journal of agricultural economics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.949
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1467-8276
pISSN - 0002-9092
DOI - 10.1111/0002-9092.00095
Subject(s) - competition (biology) , production (economics) , food processing , business , agricultural economics , economics , food science , biology , microeconomics , ecology
U.S. pork production and processing is consolidating in larger, more economically efficient units, and shifting from the Midwest into the Southeast. A regionalmodelof farm supply and processing demand shows that smaller Midwest operations can survive only if processing capacity remains concentrated in that region. Salmonella incidence is higher in the Southeast and on larger farms. Restricting salmonella incidence in hogs delivered for processing to the minimum feasible level would increase total industry costs by 3%, due to increased production and delivery costs. It would also increase the comparative advantage of farms and processing firms in the Midwest.