Producer cooperatives and strategic alliances could assist lamb producers and market efficiency by improving price signals through product grading. Opportunities exist for first and second cross lamb producers to achieve price premiums by forming intersectoral linkages with processors/wholesalers and retailers. Producer cooperatives enable producers to supply consistent quantities of high quality lambs to satisfy the market requirements of the wholesalers/retailers within an alliance. Alternatively, opportunistic lamb suppliers who are constrained by environmental or cost factors may not be able to derive similar price premiums.

Market analysis reveals that there are barriers to entry into specific market segments for some producers, who participate in the market individually or as a group. Hence, strategic alliances between producers and higher level market participants, i.e. retailers or food service suppliers, can yield price premiums beyond those achievable in a short-run freely competitive market.

Recent Conference Papers

Rural Development Centre Home Page

This page created and maintained by Ian Reeve.

Last updated on 16/10/96.

ireeve@metz.une.edu.au

Copyright 1995 University of New England, Armidale 2351
New South Wales, Australia.