Price determination and discovery in a ‘de-regulated’ milk market: perspectives on the price of UK milk
Abstract The de-regulation of the UK milk market, in November 1994, saw the end of sixty years of monopoly control by the Milk Marketing Boards, yet milk prices are currently higher than at any time in the history of the MMB. This paper examines the factors which are likely to determine the price of UK milk in the longer term, both at the aggregate market level and for specific transactions. In the future, all milk users in the UK will have an incentive to increase their capacity utilization and add value to raw milk, to justify a higher milk price. The option of importing liquid milk from the continent will become increasingly attractive as cross-channel links improve and transfer costs fall. The price-fixing mechanism adopted by Milk Marque has resulted in a short-term increase in UK milk prices. In the long run, prices will fluctuate within a band, with intervention prices for butter and skimmed milk powder determining the floor and the cost of transfering milk from the continent determining the ceiling.
Milk prices in a deregulated market
Purpose – When the UK's Milk Marketing Boards (MMB) were disbanded in 1994 the formal link between the farm gate milk price with the milk's end‐use was broken. The purpose of this paper is to examine whether milk prices fell to their “marginal value in the least remunerative use” or whether “the market had put in place some other mechanism for raising the price upwards”.Design/methodology/approach – An on‐line survey of UK milk producers, open to all, conducted in the summer of 2008, explored farmers' knowledge of their milk contract, the use of their milk, and the reasons for choosing their current milk buyer.Findings – A liquid milk price premium (of 1.06ppl.) was earned by farmers who: sold on liquid milk contracts to processors, rather than to one of the three large farmer‐owned co‐operatives; and who recently switched milk buyer. Switching incurred high transaction costs, additional uncertainty, and went against commitments to the co‐operative ideal.Practical implications – Publication of differences...
Genetics of the phenotypic evolution in sheep: a molecular look at diversity-driving genes
Background After domestication, the evolution of phenotypically-varied sheep breeds has generated rich biodiversity. This wide phenotypic variation arises as a result of hidden genomic changes that range from a single nucleotide to several thousands of nucleotides. Thus, it is of interest and significance to reveal and understand the genomic changes underlying the phenotypic variation of sheep breeds in order to drive selection towards economically important traits. Review Various traits contribute to the emergence of variation in sheep phenotypic characteristics, including coat color, horns, tail, wool, ears, udder, vertebrae, among others. The genes that determine most of these phenotypic traits have been investigated, which has generated knowledge regarding the genetic determinism of several agriculturally-relevant traits in sheep. In this review, we discuss the genomic knowledge that has emerged in the past few decades regarding the phenotypic traits in sheep, and our ultimate aim is to encourage its practical application in sheep breeding. In addition, in order to expand the current understanding of the sheep genome, we shed light on research gaps that require further investigation. Conclusions Although significant research efforts have been conducted in the past few decades, several aspects of the sheep genome remain unexplored. For the full utilization of the current knowledge of the sheep genome, a wide practical application is still required in order to boost sheep productive performance and contribute to the generation of improved sheep breeds. The accumulated knowledge on the sheep genome will help advance and strengthen sheep breeding programs to face future challenges in the sector, such as climate change, global human population growth, and the increasing demand for products of animal origin.