RTI Awarded Livestock & Meat Marketing Study

August, 2004 - The U.S. Department of Agriculture recently announced that the Research Triangle Institute (RTI) has been awarded a contract to conduct an exhaustive study on livestock and meat marketing.

"This study will give producers better information on which to base their decisions on whether to participate in non-traditional marketing arrangements and, if so, which ones," says Donna Reifschneider, administrator of USDA's Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA). "It also will provide information on the role of alternative marketing arrangements, the extent of their use, reasons why firms enter into them and the implications of their use."

The study was funded by Congress in the FY 2003 Omnibus Appropriations Bill. USDA awarded a single contract of $4,319,373 to RTI to study the cattle, hog and lamb industries.

RTI developed a coalition of researchers to conduct the study, including representatives from Colorado State University, Iowa State University, Kansas State University, Montana State University, North Carolina State University and The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

GIPSA will provide technical oversight on the contract.

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