The Direct Marketing of Hogs

Excerpts from the report Foreword: The marked expansion in the direct marketing of hogs in the last decade gave rise to a number of troublesome questions and problems to which the Bureau of Agricultural Economics for some time has been giving attention. These questions took on added importance in connection with programs considered under the Agricultural Adjustment Act and the Secretary of Agriculture requested that the study be completed as soon as possible. The study shows that the development of direct marketing of hogs is associated with the expansion and shifts in the areas of corn and hog production and with the decentralization of the packing industry. Its growth has been facilitated by the extension of good roads and the rise of motor transportation as well as by more favorable freight rates on hog products than on live hogs. The lower labor costs usually found in smaller cities and towns also have contributed to the decentralization of the packing industry and to the growth of direct marketing. In general, the study shows that direct marketing has not operated to the disadvantage of hog producers. It does point out, however, that direct marketing has substantially reduced the number of hogs received for sale at public markets which has adversely affected the interests of stockyard operators and market agencies at some public markets