The Kansas State University Lean Value Marketing Program was designed to investigate the value of pigs marketed on a wholesale-cut basis. This program allowed producers to directly compare the actual wholesale value of their pigs with the value of pigs from other producers. Key factors identified by a survey of the program were sort loss and grade premium. The survey demonstrated to producers where they were in comparison with other swine producers in the state, as well as the enormous impact these factors had on profitability.
Keeler et al. (Wed,) studied this question.