A Re-Examination of Multistage Economies in Hog Farming

Authors

Joshua D. Parcel, Iowa State UniversityFollow
John R. Schroeter, Iowa State UniversityFollow
Azzeddine M. Azzam, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow

Document Type

Article

Date of this Version

2018

Citation

Journal of Agricultural & Food Industrial Organization. 2018; 20170033

Comments

© 2018 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston.

DOI: 10.1515/jafio-2017-0033

Abstract

Current trends in the structure of hog production in the U.S. are toward facilities that are not only larger, but also more likely to be specialized, carrying out only some of the vertically linked phases of production in the same facility. This paper investigates the cost efficiency incentives for these changes by estimating a multistage cost function for hog production. Data are from the Hog Production Practices and Costs portion of the USDA’s 2004 Agricultural Resource Management Survey.