A survey of Kansas beef producers and consumers who participate in business-to-consumer marketing of beef

Following the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, producer and consumer interest in business-to-consumer (B2C) beef sales increased. The objective of the current study was to assess current B2C beef producer and consumer attitudes and understandings of the B2C beef marketing process in order to identify knowledge gaps and strategies to improve producer/consumer interactions. Both producers and customers of local beef were recruited using a large online platform (https://shopkansasfarms.com), and descriptive statistics were used to summarize the data. In total, 41 B2C beef producers and 174 consumers who had either previously participated in B2C marketing or intended to participate were surveyed. Most producers (69.8%) only produced beef and produced only a small number (1 to 20 head) of animals per year. Many (43.9%) reported selling 100% of beef directly to consumers, while 29.3% reported selling less than 20% through this channel. Almost all (97.3%) of the producers indicated that increased sales directly to consumers would be desirable, with most (87.1%) considering this marketing channel as the most profitable. Marketing beef in smaller portions, including portioned cuts, was popular, reported by more than 62% of producers, while whole carcass sales were lower. Word-of-mouth (91.3%) and social media (65.8%) were the most popular forms of advertisement used by producers and more than one-third of producers (38.9%) reported having trouble with customers regarding a sale. Over 60% of consumers indicated they had purchased B2C beef less than 5 times, with more than 73% indicating that more than 75% of their beef purchased was local. Low take-home weights, portion sizes, and quality were among consumers' most cited troubles. Lack of freezer space (25%), price (24.9%), and quantity of product (41.7%) were reported as the largest barriers to consumer participation in B2C marketing. Both consumers and producers indicated that consumer testimonials would be the most beneficial in improving producer/consumer interactions, with educational materials from government sources viewed as the least beneficial. These results provide a baseline for B2C beef marketing and provide insight into impactful strategies to use to assist in this process.

A stochastic analysis of tractor overturn costs on catfish farms

An area of health and safety risk in agriculture that can be especially dangerous is catfish farming. One of the potential sources of injuries on catfish farms is tractor overturns that often result in crushing injuries. There is likely a higher probability of tractor overturns on a catfish farm than on a traditional crop farm due to the conditions that prevail on catfish farms. A catfish farm requires tractor movement near pond levees and water, and these levees have steep banks. Many of the activities on a catfish farm, such as mowing, feeding, and pond maintenance, require operating a tractor near a pond levee. Rollover protection structures (ROPS) on tractors can help to minimize the injuries caused by tractor overturns. ROPS do not lessen the probability of overturns, but ROPS mitigate the expected injury severity and lower the associated costs of an overturn. Despite the benefits of ROPS, not every tractor is so equipped. Some earlier work indicated that the cost to retrofit older tractors might outweigh the expected benefits. This article uses stochastic (i.e., randomly determined) analysis to determine if risk-averse farmers are more likely than risk-neutral farmers to retrofit tractors with ROPS. For this analysis, a distribution function of injury costs should an overturn occur was developed for both ROPS and non-ROPS tractors, and a Monte Carlo simulation was conducted. Results indicate that many risk-averse producers would be willing to retrofit older tractors with ROPS. However producers who are risk-neutral probably will not retrofit. These results might explain why not all tractors have been retrofitted despite the long-term availability of retrofit kits.

Risk analysis of tractor overturns on catfish farms

Fatal and nonfatal injuries occur on catfish farms as a result of tractor overturns, but these injuries can be greatly mitigated when a tractor is equipped with a rollover protective structure (ROPS) and seatbelt. This study analyzed the proportion of tractors on catfish farms in Mississippi not equipped with ROPS and the cost of retrofitting those tractors with a ROPS and seatbelt as compared to the expected benefits gained from adding the protection. To determine if farmers have the financial incentive to retrofit older tractors, a net present value framework was used because the expected benefits occur over a number of years. The ROPS retrofit is a one-time cost that occurs immediately, and thus the present value does not need to be calculated, i.e., time period 0. According to this study adding ROPS will provide a net benefit of $22,877 in the event of an overturn. When dealing with small farms (<125 acres) where an average tractor is used for approximately twice as many hours compared to an average tractor on large farms, the extra hours worked by a single tractor resulted in total benefits of retrofitting ROPS of $9.45 per year, whereas for large farms the net benefit is $4.70 (=125 acres). Given that the least expensive retrofit is $147, it would take 15.5 years of tractor use on the small farms for the expected benefits to outweigh the cost. Given the large range of costs that could occur due to an overturn, there could be a significant premium for not having ROPS protection. In other words, there likely is a smaller range of costs from an overturn with ROPS than without ROPS because ROPS reduces the more serious incidents.