Pork Managers' Perception of Labor Management Practices and Their Risks

Although managing labor has become important for farm operations success, training and education for farm managers focuses on agricultural production management and few studies provide an empirical basis on how agricultural labor management differs from labor management in other industries. With the exception of Hurley et al., little is known about labor management practices in pork production, specifically. This study used the focus group discussion method with four focus group meetings in Michigan and two in Kansas in 2006. The average group size was four participants. All group discussions were tape-recorded and transcribed. The ATLAS-TI software was used to support the data analysis. Labor management topics discussed were as follows (order based on the amount of discussion dedicated to each topic): (1) performance management, (2) compensation, (3) recruitment, (4) training, (5) working conditions and organizational structure of farms, (6) selection, (7) hiring immigrant employees, (8) discipline, (9) performance evaluation, (10) social environment, and (11) labor law. Labor management practices, labor attributes, and work characteristics were analyzed within each category and characterized as risk reducing or risk increasing, according to managers perceptions. An educational pilot workshop was developed based on the focus group discussions and delivered in both Michigan and Kansas. Topics covered in the workshops included recruitment and selection, training, employee evaluation, compensation, conflict management, discipline and termination, communication, and motivation. Workshops were evaluated both immediately afterwards, through written anonymous workshop evaluations and through phone interviews. While most participants were able to point to specific content learned and had started to implement changes, hoping to increase productivity and/or reduce costs, few were able to quantify the monetary value of those changes.Labor and Human Capital, Livestock Production/Industries,

Aligning Incentives for Contract Dairy Heifer Growth

As dairy farms grow and specialize in milking cows, raising replacement heifers is increasingly outsourced. Perhaps the largest challenge of outsourcing the heifer enterprise involves quality, measured as milk production potential, and the possibility for moral hazard due to hidden action on the part of the custom heifer grower. A principal-agent framework was used to elicit contract terms to provide incentives for the heifer grower to achieve desired growth rates, and enable the return of the heifer to the dairy farm on an accelerated time frame, without sacrificing quality. To mitigate incentive asymmetries, bonuses and deductions are proposed.contracts, heifer growth, moral hazard, principal agent, Livestock Production/Industries,

A Survey of Reproductive Management Strategies on US Commercial Dairy Farms

Reproductive performance on the dairy farm affects the dairy’s profit because it directly affects milk production, the availability of replacements, the amounts of voluntary and involuntary culling, breeding costs, and costs associated with veterinary care (Britt, 1985). Reproductive management programs selected for implementation differ across farms due to varying on-farm costs, such as labor costs, opportunity costs of management and labor, as well as facilities, farm goals and values, and management styles. The objective of this paper is to summarize survey data in order to aid in providing economic insight into why varying types of farms utilize different methods of reproductive management and differing reproductive technologies.

Verifying Credence Attributes in Livestock Production

Livestock producers can respond to increasing consumer demand for certain production process attributes by providing verifiable information on the practices used. Consumer willingness to pay data were used to inform producer decision-making regarding selection of verification entities for four key production process attributes in the production of pork chops and milk. The potential for informing farm-level decision-making with information about consumer demand for product and production process attributes exists beyond the two products assessed as example cases in this analysis.Key Words: animal welfare, certification, credence attribute, producer decision support, response to consumer demand, verification, willingness to pay, Consumer/Household Economics, Demand and Price Analysis, Livestock Production/Industries, Production Economics, Q11, Q12, Q19,

Media Coverage of Animal Handling and Welfare: Influence on Meat Demand

Replaced with revised version of paper 7/21/09.animal welfare, consumer demand, meat quality, media information, Rotterdam model, source of information, information indices, Agricultural and Food Policy, Demand and Price Analysis,

Consumer Preferences for Animal Welfare Attributes: The Case of Gestation Crates

Animal welfare concerns are having dramatic impacts on food and livestock markets. Here we examine consumer preferences for pork products with a focus on use of gestation crates. We examine underlying consumer valuations of pork attributes while considering preference heterogeneity as well as voluntary and legislative alternatives in producing gestation crate-free pork. Our results suggest that prohibiting swine producers from using gestation crates fails to improve consumer welfare in the presence of a labeling scheme documenting voluntary disadoption of gestation crates. Consumers are found to implicitly associate animal welfare attributes with smaller farms. Preference heterogeneity drives notably diverse consumer welfare impacts when pork produced with use of gestation crates is no longer available for consumption.animal welfare, consumer welfare, economics of legislation, gestation crates, pork, swine, voluntary labeling, willingness to pay, Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Consumer/Household Economics, Industrial Organization, Livestock Production/Industries, Q11, Q13, Q18,

Producer Technology Use and the Value of Autonomy: The Case of rbST

Farm Management, Production Economics, Productivity Analysis,

Understanding U.S. Consumer Demand for Milk Production Attributes

A choice experiment was used to examine the value of various fluid milk attributes. Respondents were surveyed regarding half or whole gallon milk purchases. A split-sample design was used to examine consumer inferences regarding food safety. Willingness to pay for verification of production process attributes varied across attributes and verifying entity. Consumers were generally willing to pay substantial premiums for milk produced without the use of rbST, on local family farms, with assured food safety enhancement, and for these claims to be verified by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.milk, food safety, grazing, rbST, family farm, local, willingness to pay, Consumer/Household Economics, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

Consumer Willingness to Pay for Livestock Credence Attribute Claim Verification

A choice experiment was used to determine consumer value for verification of livestock production process attributes. Willingness to pay for verification of production process attributes varied for both milk and pork chops across attributes and verifying entity. Statistically significant evidence of social desirability bias was found by comparing estimates of consumer preferences solicited using direct and indirect questioning. Indirect questioning may yield more accurate representations of consumer value than direct questioning, and therefore more accurate estimates for agribusiness decision making.animal welfare, certification, consumer demand, credence attribute, social desirability bias, verification, willingness to pay, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Livestock Production/Industries,

Modeling Heterogeneity in Consumer Preferences for Select Food Safety Attributes in China

Food safety issues often arise from problems of asymmetric information between consumers and suppliers with regards to product-specific attributes. Severe food safety scandals were observed recently in China that not only caused direct economic and life loss but also created distrust in the Chinese food system domestically as well as internationally. While much attention has focused on the problems plaguing the Chinese government’s food inspection system, little research has been dedicated to analyze consumers’ concerns over food safety. In this paper we measure consumer preferences for select food safety attributes in pork and take their food safety risk perceptions into account. Several choice experiment models, including latent class and random parameters logit, are constructed to capture heterogeneity in consumer preferences. A statistical sample of 6,720 observations is obtained from a choice experiment administered in seven major Chinese metropolitan cities. Our results suggest that Chinese consumers have the highest willingness-to-pay for a government certification program, followed by a traceability system, third party certification and a product-specific information label. The results of this study call upon the direct involvement of the Chinese government in the food safety system. A more strict monitoring system will not only improve consumer welfare in the short-run but also restore consumers’ trust leading to a social welfare increase in the long run.Food safety, choice experiment, willingness-to-pay, risk perceptions, random parameters logit, latent class logit, Agricultural and Food Policy, Consumer/Household Economics, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Q13, Q17, Q18,