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Economic feasibility of mobile processing units for small-scale pasture poultry farmers

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 September 2015

Simone Angioloni ,
Genti Kostandini ,
Walid Q. Alali  and
Corliss A. O'Bryan
Simone Angioloni
Affiliation:
Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics, University of Georgia, 308 Conner Hall, Athens, Georgia 30602, USA.
Genti Kostandini*
Affiliation:
Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics, University of Georgia, 1109 Experiment Street, 221 Stuckey Building, Griffin, Georgia 30223, USA.
Walid Q. Alali
Affiliation:
Center for Food Safety and Department of Food Science and Technology, University of Georgia, Griffin, Georgia 30223, USA.
Corliss A. O'Bryan
Affiliation:
Department of Food Science, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Arkansas 72704, USA.
*
*Corresponding author: gentik@uga.edu
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Abstract

The use of mobile processing units (MPUs) for pasture poultry is growing rapidly. This study compared the economic feasibility of MPUs to two processing alternatives, traditional stationary processing on-farm plants and off-farm processing facilities. Our study combined a survey of pasture poultry farmers in Georgia, Louisiana, and Arkansas with the published research. Our findings suggest that MPUs and traditional on-farm processing alternatives have a lower processing cost, but that they require a higher initial investment than the off-farm option. In addition, off-farm processing at the United States Department of Agriculture-inspected facility allows selling products for a higher price. We therefore expect, on average, a higher per-bird profit than with the other two options. However, the excess processing capacity of the MPU can make this option the most profitable.

Keywords

mobile processing unitpasture poultryeconomic feasibilitysmall-scale farmers
Type
Research Papers
Information
Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems , Volume 31 , Issue 5 , October 2016 , pp. 387 - 401
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Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2015 

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