Structure in Animal Protein Production

Much work has taken place to understand some consequences of change in animal protein production, including growth in demand and adverse environmental implications. Much less is known about how the animal protein production sector has reorganized. Among topics addressed in outputs involving Hennessy have been the purpose and growth of contract agriculture:

  • Hennessy, D.A., and John D. Lawrence. “Contractual Relations, Control, and Quality in the Hog Sector.” Review of Agricultural Economics, 21(Spring/Summer, 1999):52-67. Link
  • Hueth, Brent, and D.A. Hennessy. “Contracts and Risk in Agriculture: Conceptual and Empirical Foundations.” In A Comprehensive Assessment of the Role of Risk in U.S. Agriculture, Richard E. Just and Rulon D. Pope eds., Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, Netherlands, 2002, Chapter 9, pp. 167-189. Link

A conceptual explanation of patterns in the nature of Confined Animal Feeding Operations is provided in:

  • Hennessy, D.A., Jing Zhang, and Na Bai. “Structure of Protein Production, Animal Health Inputs, Endogenous Risk, Public Infrastructure and Technology Adoption.” Forthcoming at Food Policy. Link

The purposes are to explain why certain production activities tend to go together; the effects that animal welfare, animal health and other regulations may have on CAFOS; and also the role of external economic development as a driver of confined animal protein production. Some related topics were touched upon in the works listed immediately below:

  • Hennessy, D.A., and Tong Wang. “Animal Disease and the Industrialization of Agriculture.” In Health and Animal Agriculture in Developing Countries, D. Zilberman, J. Otte, D. Roland-Holst and D. Pfeiffer eds. Springer, New York, on behalf of the Food and Agricultural Organization, United Nations, 2012, Chapter 5, pp. 77-99. Link
  • Hennessy, D.A., Jutta Roosen, and Helen H. Jensen. “Infectious Disease, Productivity, and Scale in Open and Closed Animal Production Systems.” American Journal of Agricultural Economics, 87(November, 2005):900-917. Link

The demand for uniform production has also been a theme. The quality dimension to uniformity has been addressed in

  • Hennessy, D.A. “Informed Control Over Inputs and Extent of Industrial Processing.” Economics Letters, 94(March, 2007):372-377. Link
  • Hennessy, D.A. “Slaughterhouse Rules: Animal Uniformity and Regulating for Food Safety in Meat Packing.” American Journal of Agricultural Economics, 87(August, 2005):600-609. Link
  • Hennessy, D.A., John A. Miranowski, and Bruce A. Babcock. “Genetic Information in Agricultural Productivity and Product Development.” American Journal of Agricultural Economics, 86(February, 2004):73-87. Link

The seasonal dimension to uniformity has been addressed in

  • Hennessy, D.A. “Region Marginalization in Agriculture, Seasonality, Dedicated Capital, and Product Development with Reference to North Europe Dairy Sector.” Annals of Regional Science, 41(June, 2007):467-486. Link
  • Hennessy, D.A., and Jutta Roosen. “A Cost-Based Model of Seasonal Production, with Application to Milk Policy.” Journal of Agricultural Economics, 54(July, 2003):285-312. Link

Restructuring has been accompanied with exit, especially among smaller operators. This has been addressed in

  • Dong, Fengxia, D.A. Hennessy, H.H. Jensen, and Richard J. Volpe. “Technical Efficiency, Herd Size, and Exit Intentions in U.S. Dairy Farms.” Agricultural Economics, 47(5, 2016):533-545. Link
  • Dong, Fengxia, D.A. Hennessy, and H.H. Jensen. “Factors Determining Milk Quality, and Implications for Production Structure Under SCC Standard Modification.” Highlighted article of the month Journal of Dairy Science, 95(November, 2012):6421-6435. Link
  • Dong, Fengxia, D.A. Hennessy, and Helen H. Jensen. “Contract and Exit Decisions in Finisher Hog Production.” American Journal of Agricultural Economics, 93(April, 2010):667-684. Summarized in Vol. 1(1) of Livestock & Meat Marketing: Connecting Livestock Producers with Recent Economic Research (CLPER). Link

How and why enterprises may come together to address a problem has been considered in

Hennessy, D.A., Jutta Roosen, and John A. Miranowski. “Leadership and the Provision of Safe Food.” American Journal of Agricultural Economics, 83(November, 2001):862-874. Link

For those interested in this line of activity, please see the heading about Food Systems.

Animals

  • follow us on linkedin
Michigan State University
  • Spartans Will.
  • © Michigan State University

MSU is an affirmative-action, equal-opportunity employer, committed to achieving excellence through a diverse workforce and inclusive culture that encourages all people to reach their full potential.

Michigan State University Extension programs and materials are open to all without regard to race, color, national origin, gender, gender identity, religion, age, height, weight, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, marital status, family status or veteran status. Issued in furtherance of MSU Extension work, acts of May 8 and June 30, 1914, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Quentin Tyler, Director, MSU Extension, East Lansing, MI 48824. This information is for educational purposes only. Reference to commercial products or trade names does not imply endorsement by MSU Extension or bias against those not mentioned.

The 4-H Name and Emblem have special protections from Congress, protected by code 18 USC 707.

We comply with the Federal Trade Commission 1998 Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).