Pork Belly Research Articles

Hydrogenated dietary fat improves pork quality of pigs from two lean genotypes.

Pork quality is influenced by nutrition, genetics, management, and pork-processing procedures. Pigs of lean genotype fed diets high in unsaturated fat may have thinner, lower-quality bellies with a soft fat composition. Therefore, we investigated the effects of supplementing 5% choice white grease that had been chemically hydrogenated to iodine values of 80, 60, 40, or 20 on pork quality. Diets were fed to barrows and gilts of two genotypes (NPD [Ham-line x Manor hybrid] and PIC [406, 419, or 420 x C22]; n = 240) in a 4 x 2 x 2 factorial design. Pigs (76.8 kg of mean initial weight) were placed on test at a common age and were fed dietary treatments for 52 d. Pigs of PIC genotype were heavier at trial initiation, had higher feed intake and feed conversion ratio (F/G; P < 0.05), and greater backfat (26.3 vs. 24.0 mm; P < 0.001) and loin depth (59.0 vs. 55.3 mm; P < 0.001) compared with the NPD genotype pigs. As the iodine value of dietary fat was reduced, belly thickness increased (P < 0.05) and length decreased linearly (P < 0.05). Congruently, belly fat iodine value decreased from 73.9 to 67.4 (linear effect; P < 0.001) and belly fat C18:2 concentration declined from 20.6 to 16.3% (linear and quadratic effect; P < 0.001). The belly mono- and polyunsaturated fat ratio increased 29% as diet iodine value declined from 80 to 20 (linear and quadratic effect; P < 0.001). Further, there was a linear increase (P < 0.001) in saturated fatty acid concentration of belly fat (C14:0, C16:0, and C18:0) as dietary fat iodine value declined. Quadratic (P < 0.005) effects were detected in the level of C18:1trans as iodine value decreased from 80 to 20, paralleling dietary content. Dietary fat iodine value did not affect fat digestibility, ADFI, or F/G. Pork belly quality was improved as defined by reduced iodine value, C18:2 content, increased saturated fatty acid content, increased thickness, and decreased length as dietary iodine value decreased. Results indicate that reduction of dietary fat iodine value by chemical hydrogenation has the desirable effect of improving pork quality and does not alter growth performance.

Flat Cats and the Price of a Platypus

John Wamsley is an imposing-looking fellow, particularly if you happen to be a cat. At 6 foot 2, with a chest-length gray beard and bushy brows, he lumbers around in a Daniel Boone-type hat made from a large, feral feline he skinned years ago. A blunt hatred of cats – and foxes and rabbits, who are likewise immigrants to his native Australia – is Wamsley's trademark, in his defense of the tiny marsupials and delicate plants they've feasted on for decades. “The only good cat is a flat cat”, Wamsley likes to say, and he's been known to make the motto manifest, with the aid of dogs and poisons, throughout the hundreds of thousands of Australian acres he has set aside as ecotourist preserves. As may be supposed, this approach has made Wamsley enemies. Pet lovers resent his calls for recipes for “pussy tail stew”. Yet even more offensive, to some, has been his main strategy for rescuing endangered Australian wildlife: treating the rare numbats, wombats, and wallabies on his land as tradable commodities. In the past several years, Wamsley has become an ecotourism industry leader with a simple strategy. He buys degraded properties, installs electric fences to keep out predators, and restores the area with native plants and threatened native animals. Then he invites high-paying visitors on low-impact tours. In May of 2000, he put his company, Earth Sanctuaries Ltd, on the Australian stock exchange, declaring it the first firm “with a core value of conservation” to be publicly traded. But even more remarkable was his achievement one year earlier, when he successfully lobbied for an inclusion of “ selfgenerating and regenerating assets” in Australian accounting standards. Fish farmers and foresters have thus been able to include on their balance sheets the value of non-human living organisms held for commercial purposes. Wamsley, too, can total the value of his stick-nest rats, yellow-footed rock wallabies, and platypuses, thereby coming up with a new, and obviously much larger, measure of his company's net worth. To be sure, the very notion that “shares” in biodiversity can be converted into something like pork bellies raises the hackles of many who believe that we should revere nature as it is. Yet Wamsley, whom I met on an eye-opening trip to Australia in 2000, insists that only such hard-headed measures can help tackle what has become the worst epidemic of extinctions in human history. The situation is especially bad Down Under, where rampant deforestation has led to a full quarter of the world's mammal extinctions over the previous 200 years. Pressed in part by the need to increase value to his thousands of shareholders, he has become an expert breeder of platypuses, while his company “is doing the best job of anyone in Australia in terms of preserving native animals”, according to government economist Carl Binning. Wamsley's philosophy remains as subtle as his headgear. “There are two things that motivate people”, he told me. “Greed and fear. And the fear is the fear of losing out.” Yet unsettling as this view of human beings may be, it is, in fact, an understandable outgrowth of two important trends. One is the relatively recent awareness that nature's vital, everyday work – in this case, the complex web of ecosystems that nurture biodiversity – can acquire financial value, making conservation a profitable endeavor. The other is a growing willingness among environmentalists to learn more about the world of business, and even adopt some of its practices. It all comes down to the idea that most people need concrete incentives to care for the environment. They shouldn't be forced to choose between saving for their children's education or trying to rescue a species of kangaroo. As Wamsley says, “bake sales haven't done the job”. Philanthropy and governmentregulation have barely made a dent in our environmental crises; we need to find other tools. And this applies not only to preserving numbats, but also threatened forests, coral reefs, and wetlands. Experiments are underway, for instance, in finding markets for these ecosystem services, including the capture of heat-trapping carbon dioxide by forests and water purification by wetlands. Earth Sanctuaries Ltd has fallen on rough times since its initial launching in the heyday of the global stock boom. Wamsley, according to most reports, overextended himself, and in past months has had to sell off some of his large reserves. His firm's share price has fallen, though he still boasts of 7000 committed shareholders. But whether this experiment succeeds or not, Wamsley has certainly given impetus to an emerging debate about nature – including human nature. As he puts it, “You can say let's change the world, or you can say we've evolved the way we are, and we're a lot of bastards, and let's work with that”. Katherine Ellison

Prediction of lean to fat tissue ratio of pork belly by specific gravity

There is a need for an accurate, economical, nondestructive, and rapid procedure for determining the lean to fat tissue ratio of pork belly or bacon slab. Relationship between specific gravity of various fat/lean ratios in different shapes was investigated using regression analysis. Accuracy of the prediction equation was examined. Specific gravity of sample was neither affected by weight nor by shape. The correlation coefficient between fat percent and specific gravity is 0.98, which is highly significant. Of the variation in fat percent, 96.3% is explained by the variation in specific gravity. Within the range of one standard error, 26 out of 31 verification samples with various weight are included. Data suggested that specific gravity can be used to predict fat percent of pork belly with a fair degree of accuracy. Predicting fat ratio should be helpful to the consumer as well as to industry for quality assurance.

The influence of diets containing either conventional corn, conventional corn with choice white grease, high oil corn, or high oil high oleic corn on belly/bacon quality

The objectives of this study were to evaluate diets possessing different fatty acid profiles (as influenced by corn type) with regard to fatty acid profile and firmness of pork bellies. Crossbred barrows ( n=196) were fed one of four corn-based diets consisting of conventional corn (CONV), CONV with choice white grease (CWG), high oil corn (HOC), or high oleic, high oil corn (HOHOC). Following 98 days on test, two animals representing the average pen weight (118 kg) were selected for harvest ( n=56). A 50-g fat sample was removed from each belly for fatty acid profile analysis. Lateral and vertical flex tests were performed to determine belly firmness. Bellies were pumped and cooked according to a commercial protocol. Total saturated fatty acids increased ( P<0.001) and total unsaturated fatty acids decreased ( P<0.05) when CWG was added to the CONV diet or when HOC or HOHOC were substituted for CONV corn. Pigs fed CONV corn had firmer bellies, while those fed HOC were softer. No differences were observed across treatment for percentage pump retention, smokehouse yield, or slicing yield ( P>0.05). Based on the results of this study, corn type influences fatty acid profile, and belly firmness, but does not affect pump retention, or slicing yields.

Prediction of Mass-transfer Kinetics and Product Quality Changes during a Dehydration-Impregnation-Soaking Process using Artificial Neural Networks. Application to Pork Curing

Boucané is a cured pork belly product from Réunion. This product is traditionally processed by salting, drying, cooking and smoking raw pork belly in one step or sequentially. A technique involving immersion in a concentrated solution (consisting of water, salt, glucose syrup and liquid smoke flavoring) is proposed with the aim of improving the efficiency of the boucané manufacturing process and enhancing the sanitary quality of the end product. The product could thus be directly dehydrated and formulated in a single operation by this alternative process. An artificial neural network model was developed to analyse and optimize this process. The model mathematically correlates the process command variables (temperature, sugar and liquid smoke flavoring concentrations of the immersion solution) with the end-product characteristics (water loss, salt, phenol and sugar gains, water activity and pH patterns).

Characterization of traditional processing of pork meat into boucané

Boucané is a traditional meat product from Réunion that is obtained by salting, drying and hot smoking pork belly. One-step unit operations give rise to a stable product with remarkable colour and flavour qualities. Smoking the product directly over embers, however, leads to benzo(a)pyrene contamination. Mass transfers (salt gain, water loss) stabilize the end product, which has a 28.5% water content and 5.6% salt content. Lipid oxidation and Maillard reactions are the main mechanisms involved in the boucané production process. The molecules derived from these two reactions are — along with smoke compounds — responsible for the flavour and colour of the end product.

Interactive effects between paylean™ (Ractopamine HCl) and dietary lysine on pork quality, loin, belly, and ham composition (2001)

Summary A total of 432 pigs were used to evaluate the effects of Paylean and dietary lysine on pork quality and loin, belly, and ham composition. The 12 dietary treatments included Paylean (0, 4.5, and 9.0 g/ton) and 4 levels of lysine. For pigs fed no Paylean, lysine levels were 0.60, 0.80, 1.00, and 1.20%. For pigs fed 4.5 or 9.0 g/ton of Paylean, lysine levels were 0.80, 1.00, 1.20, and 1.40%. The results indicate that pigs fed Paylean and increasing levels of lysine will have less loin marbling and belly firmness compared to control pigs fed lower levels of lysine.

Effects of choice white grease or poultry fat on growth performance, carcass leanness, and meat quality characteristics of growing-finishing pigs.

Eighty-four crossbred gilts were used to evaluate the effects of dietary choice white grease (CWG) or poultry fat (PF) on growth performance, carcass characteristics, and quality characteristics of longissimus muscle (LM), belly, and bacon of growing-finishing pigs. Pigs (initially 60 kg) were fed a control diet with no added fat or diets containing 2, 4, or 6% CWG or PF. Diets were fed from 60 to 110 kg and contained 2.26 g lysine/Mcal ME. Data were analyzed as a 2 x 3 factorial plus a control with main effects of fat source (CWG and PF) and fat level (2, 4, and 6%). Pigs fed the control diet, 2% fat, and 4% fat had greater (P < 0.05) ADFI than pigs fed 6% fat. Pigs fed 6% fat had greater (P < 0.05) gain/feed (G/F) than pigs fed the control diet or other fat levels. Subcutaneous fat over the longissimus muscle from pigs fed CWG had more (P < 0.05) moisture than that from pigs fed PF. Feeding dietary fat (regardless of source or level) reduced (P < 0.05) the amount of saturated fats present in the LM. Similarly, 4 or 6% fat decreased (P < 0.05) the amount of saturated fats and increased unsaturated fats present in the bacon. No differences (P > 0.05) were observed for ADG, dressing percentage, leaf fat weight, LM pH, backfat depth, LM area, percentage lean, LM visual evaluation, LM waterholding capacity, Warner-Bratzler shear and sensory evaluation of the LM and bacon, fat color and firmness measurements, or bacon processing characteristics. Adding dietary fat improved G/F and altered the fatty acid profiles of the LM and bacon, but differences in growth rate, carcass characteristics, and quality and sensory characteristics of the LM and bacon were minimal. Dietary additions of up to 6% CWG or PF can be made with little effect on quality of pork LM, belly, or bacon.

Quantification of pork belly and boston butt quality attribute preferences of South Korean customers.

U.S. packers must have quantitative criteria for selection of pork bellies and Boston butts for export to South Korea. Pork bellies (IMPS 409A) and Boston butts (IMPS 409A, 406B, 407) were selected from normal production in a U.S. pork packing plant and transported to Seoul, South Korea, via seafreighter in refrigerated containers (frozen < -5 degrees C) or via air freight (fresh > 0 degrees C; frozen < -5 degrees C). Participants at the Seoul Food Show were surveyed about their preferences for specific quality attributes of these cuts. Bellies were selected to differ in seam fat content (low = < 20%, moderate = 20 to 40%, high = > 40% extractable fat), lean color (pale = L* > 50, medium = L* 48-50, dark = L* < 48), weight (3.36, 4.04, or 5.36 kg), state of refrigeration and packaging (frozen, poly-wrapped; chilled, poly-wrapped; frozen, vacuum-packaged; chilled, vacuum-packaged), shape (round, wavy, square), and belly thickness (3.81, 4.32, or 4.90 cm). Boston butts were selected to differ in USDA marbling score (Slight, Small, Modest, Moderate, and Slightly Abundant), seam fat content (low = < 10%, moderate = 10 to 20% fat, high = > 20% extractable fat), lean color (pale = L* > 44, medium = L* 40-42, dark = L* < 38), weight (2.91, 3.82, or 4.66 kg), state of refrigeration and packaging (frozen, poly-wrapped; chilled, poly-wrapped; frozen, vacuum-packaged; chilled, vacuum-packaged), and shape (square, oblong, round). In Seoul, pork subprimals were tempered (if frozen), sliced, and arrayed by quality attribute and category in a retail display case. Over 4 d of testing, attendees (n = 210) of the food show were asked to rate the displayed samples for each quality attribute on a standardized ballot. Mid-weight (3.82 kg) Boston butts that displayed Moderate or higher USDA marbling scores with moderate amounts of seam fat, Japanese lean color scores of 2 or 4, round geometric shape, and that were vacuum-packaged and transported to Korea in the freshly chilled state best characterized the quality attribute preferences of respondents. Pork bellies that exhibited moderate amounts of seam fat, Japanese lean color scores of 3, square shape, belly thickness of 3.94 cm, approximate weight of 4.04 kg, and that were vacuum-packaged and transported to Korea in the freshly chilled state best met the quality needs of South Korean customers.

A population-based dietary inventory of cooked meat and assessment of the daily intake of food mutagens

Frequent consumption of meat has been associated with an increased risk of colorectal cancer. Such a risk may be due to naturally occurring compounds in the meat, substances added to the meat, or agents formed during cooking. Concerning the latter alternative, mutagenic heterocyclic amines are multi-site animal carcinogens, but their relevance to human cancer has yet to be determined. In the present study, we made a population-based inventory of cooked meat dishes consumed in the county of Stockholm, ranked dishes according to cooking method and frequency of consumption and, in addition, determined levels of mutagenic activity in six commonly consumed fried meat dishes. Meat was consumed, on average, 493 times per year, giving 1.4 daily servings. Frying was the most common way to cook meat. When ranking meat dishes according to intake frequency, the top eight dishes were as follows: sausage, steak casserole, meatballs, pork chops, pork belly, bacon, ground beef patties, and, finally, mincemeat sauce. The frying sessions were performed under controlled conditions at four different temperatures, and we documented the degree of surface browning and measured mutagenic activity in six frequently eaten dishes (sausage, meatballs, pork chops, pork belly, ground beef patties, and minute beef). We found extracts from all six dishes to be mutagenic, and a mean daily dose of exposure was calculated, giving 862 revertants. This investigation leaves no doubt that a major portion of the total meat consumption is fried before ingestion and that fried meat dishes frequently consumed by an elderly population in Stockholm contain mutagenic substances. Furthermore, the study provides usable information for future epidemiological research in which it is necessary to disentangle the effect of meat per se from the effect of potentially carcinogenic heterocyclic amines.

Liquidity in the Futures Pits: Inferring Market Dynamics with Incomplete Data

Motivated by economic models of sequential trade, empirical analyses of market dynamics frequently estimate liquidity as the coefficient of signed order flow in a price-change regression. This paper implements such an analysis for futures transaction data from pit trading. To deal with the absence of timely bid and ask quotes (which are used to sign trades in most equity-market studies), this paper proposes new techniques based on Markov chain Monte Carlo estimation. The model is estimated for four representative Chicago Mercantile Exchange contracts. The highest liquidity (lowest order flow coefficient) is found for the S&P index. Liquidity for the Euro and UK £ contracts is somewhat lower. The pork belly contract exhibits the least liquidity.

The survival and growth of acid-adapted mesophilic pathogens that contaminate meat after lactic acid decontamination.

Lactic acid decontamination (LAD) may adapt pathogens to lactic acid. Such organisms may have an increased resistance to acid and can contaminate meat after LAD. The survival and growth of acid adapted Campylobacter jejuni, Salmonella typhimurium. Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Staphylococcus aureus inoculated on skin surface of still warm pork belly cuts 2 h after LAD was examined during chilled (4 degrees C) storage and refrigeration abuse equivalent to 12.5 degrees C. Lactic acid decontamination included dipping in 1, 2 or 5% lactic acid solutions at 55 degrees C for 120 s. Lactic acid decontamination brought sharp reductions in meat surface pH, but these recovered with time after LAD at approximately 1-1.5 pH units below that of water-treated controls. A sharp decrease in the number of cfu of pathogens occurred on chilled 2-5% lactic acid treated pork belly cuts when the skin surface was less than pH 4.8-5.2. The reductions ranged from 0.1-0.3 log10 cfu cm-2 for E. coli O157:H7 to over 1.7-2.4 log10 cfu cm-2 for Camp. jejuni, respectively. Increase in storage temperature from 4 to 12.5 degrees C reduced delayed decrease in numbers of all pathogens except Camp. jejuni by a factor of two. Deaths in Camp. jejuni at 12.5 degrees C slightly exceeded those at 4 degrees C. After the initial sharp decline, the number of cfu of mesophilic pathogens decreased gradually at a rate similar to that on water-treated controls. Growth of all mesophilic pathogens except Camp. jejuni on 2-5% LAD meat occurred during storage at 12.5 degrees C when the meat surface pH exceeded 4.8-5.2, and was slower than on water-treated controls. Low temperature and acid-adapted E. coli O157:H7, Salm. typhimurium and Staph. aureus, and acid adapted Camp. jejuni that contaminate skin surface after hot 2-5% LAD, did not cause an increased health hazard, although microbiota and intrinsic parameters (lactic acid content, pH) were created that could advantage their survival and growth.

Conditional information: When are pork belly cold storage reports informative?

Conditional information: When are pork belly cold storage reports informative?

Effects of poultry fat and choice white grease on pork longissimus muscle, belly, and bacon quality (1998)

Effects of poultry fat and choice white grease on pork longissimus muscle, belly, and bacon quality (1998)

Traders offer petrochemical price stability

Most people would not think petrochemicals and commodity plastics have much in common with pork bellies, sugar, gold, soybeans, and cotton. But three financial trading organizations do. Recently created units of Shell Oil, Louis Dreyfus Energy, and oil and gas distributor Enron think they can smooth out the bumps in commodity chemical prices for both resin producers and users. After all, other commodity traders do the same for large buyers of commodities used for food, agricultural products, jewelry, and textiles. The three energy companies are now offering sellers and purchasers of widely sold chemical products financial instruments that guarantee prices for a fixed period of time—generally from six months to five years. Like homeowner's insurance, these financial instruments can reimburse commodity producers and purchasers for unexpected losses. With the payment of a premium, the insurance policies are available for petrochemicals such as ethylene, propylene, and styrene and for bigvolume resins suc...

Future price responses to USDA's Cold Storage report

An event study is conducted of the informational content of US Department of Agriculture's Cold Storage report of pork bellies over the period January 1989 to December 1992. Analysis of Knight–Ridder's composite forecast derived from its pre-release survey of market analysts indicates it is a good proxy for the market's expectation of information contained in the report. Nearby pork belly and live hog futures prices are found to respond significantly to unanticipated information in the report. This finding supports the conclusion that the Cold Storage report provides information to the private market and, therefore, performs one of its public policy goals. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Fate of low temperature and acid-adapted Yersinia enterocolitica and Listeria monocytogenes that contaminate lactic acid decontaminated meat during chill storage.

Pathogens found in the environment of abattoirs may become adapted to lactic acid used to decontaminate meat. Such organisms are more acid tolerant than non-adapted parents and can contaminate meat after lactic acid decontamination (LAD). The fate of acid-adapted Yersinia enterocolitica and Listeria monocytogenes, inoculated on skin surface of pork bellies 2 h after LAD, was examined during chilled storage. LAD included dipping in 1%, 2% or 5% lactic acid solutions at 55 degrees C for 120 s. LAD brought about sharp reductions in meat surface pH, but these recovered with time after LAD at approximately equal to 1-1.5 pH units below that of water-treated controls. Growth permitting pH at 4.8-5.2 was reached after 1% LAD in less than 0.5 d (pH 4.8-5.0), 2% LAD within 1.5 d (pH 4.9-5.1) and after 5% LAD (pH 5.0-5.2) within 4 d. During the lag on 2% LAD meat Y. enterocolitica counts decreased by 0.9 log10 cfu per cm2 and on 5% LAD the reduction was more than 1.4 log10 cfu per cm2. The reductions in L. monocytogenes were about a third of those in Y. enterocolitica. On 1% LAD the counts of both pathogens did not decrease significantly. The generation times of Y. enterocolitica and L. monocytogenes on 2-5% LAD meats were by up to twofold longer than on water-treated controls and on 1% LAD-treated meat they were similar to those on water-treated controls. Low temperature and acid-adapted L. monocytogenes and Y. enterocolitica that contaminate skin surface after hot 2-5% LAD did not cause an increased health hazard, although the number of Gram-negative spoilage organisms were drastically reduced by hot 2-5% LAD and intrinsic (lactic acid content, pH) conditions were created that may benefit the survival and the growth of acid-adapted organisms.

Evaluating the Hedging Potential of the Lean Hog Futures Contract

The lean hog futures contract is replacing the live hog futures contract at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange beginning with the February 1997 contract. The lean hog futures will be cash settled based on a broad-based lean hog price index, eliminating terminal markets from the price discovery process. Using this index over a twenty-month period as a proxy for the lean hog futures price, this paper compares the hedging effectiveness of the live hog futures contract to the hedging potential of the lean hog futures contract for cash live hogs as well as four cash meat cuts. Frozen pork bellies futures are also examined for the cash meats. Both long-term and short-term hedges are simulated, using the minimum-variance approach, which utilizes only unconditional information, and the Myers-Thompson approach that incorporates conditional information. The results show that the lean hog futures should perform better than either the live hog or the frozen pork bellies futures as a hedging instrument for Omaha cash hogs and cash loins. The strongest evidence of this is for the short-term hedging of cash hogs. For the other three meats, no futures contract demonstrated a clear hedging advantage.

A Changing Electric Power Industry

Karl Stahlkopf* recently pointed out that the U.S. electric power industry is undergoing its most profound changes in a century. This movement is in response to the growing role of competitive wholesale power transfers, to regulatory pressures, and to the demands of users of power-sensitive equipment, such as microprocessors. Scientists and engineers using computers and computer-aided equipment need reliable electricity, and many industrial customers are employing sensitive electronic devices to control their machines. A one-cycle interruption in ac supply can cause serious losses of production and information. The total cost of interruptions and voltage sags has been estimated to be $3 billion to $5 billion per year. Providing completely reliable electric power is not easy. Generating plants have thousands of parts, and the failure of a component can cause a sudden shutdown. To increase the overall reliability of electric power, many generating plants are connected in regional transmission systems. The 60-cycle frequency of all the generators in a system must be synchronized, even if those generators are a thousand miles apart. Such a network, with its varying power sources and loads, has complex behaviors. Electric current destined for a consumer often does not flow by the shortest path but proceeds in a loop hundreds of miles long. On occasion, lines have been subjected to excessive currents, causing them to overheat, expand, and sag. A power failure in the eastern United States was greatly magnified when overheated sagging lines touched trees. Applications of new technology are leading to greater reliability and lower maintenance costs of electric power systems. Sensors that can detect and warn of imminent failures are being installed at crucial points. One example is an instrument that detects gases produced by overheated transformers. Another device is programmed to monitor the sine wave in a distributing line. When the line is struck by lightning, the sensor detects a deviation in the shape of the voltage cycle, and thyristors can quickly remedy the voltage deviation. Thyristors are large solid-state devices that consist mainly of elemental silicon doped to create positively or negatively charged regions. Because they can respond in a fraction of a cycle, they will increasingly be used to switch large electrical currents. In computer-controlled industrial processes, problems can be avoided when thyristors quickly switch from a failed feeder to another power source. Electric utilities are under competitive and regulatory pressures to reduce the price of power. In earlier times, most were sole providers of electricity in specific regions. They were regulated by state and local authorities that enabled them to earn a profit and recapture the costs of capital investments. They owned their generating stations, the transmission lines, and the distribution system. Some made costly investments in generating stations that now seem ill-advised. Other utilities were urged by regulators to make long-term commitments to purchase expensive power, some of it from then-fashionable renewable energy sources. Costs to U.S. consumers of electric power now range from about 3 to 16 cents per kilowatt-hour. Large-scale consumers have responded to high costs by building their own generating facilities and by purchasing electricity from unregulated power producers. This search for lower costs has been facilitated by the existence of the large-scale power grids and by regulatory pressure to make the transmission line capabilities of utilities available to competitors. An important result has been the creation of an expanding market for wholesale electric power. For example, Consolidated Edison, which distributes electricity in New York, purchases some electricity from Quebec Hydro and some from Georgia Power. Sources often change hourly, depending on the price quoted by each. Already, 40 percent of the power generated in the United States is sold by a producing company on the wholesale market. New, more efficient generating plants—most notably those using gas-fired combustion turbines—have production costs that are considerably lower than those of many existing plants. Federally mandated open access to transmission networks is expected to further accelerate the growth of bulk power sales. Moreover, as Stahlkopf states, “Deregulation is rapidly making electricity as much of a commodity as pork bellies—complete with an evolving futures market and a variety of sophisticated trading options.”

Price limits as an explanation of thin‐tailedness in pork bellies futures prices

Journal of Futures MarketsVolume 15, Issue 1 p. 45-59 Article Price limits as an explanation of thin-tailedness in pork bellies futures prices Seung-Ryong Yang, Seung-Ryong Yang Seung-Ryong Yang is A research Scientist at North Dakota State University.Search for more papers by this authorB. Wade Brorsen, B. Wade Brorsen B. Wade Brorsen is a Professor in the Department of Agricultural Economics at Oklahoma State University.Search for more papers by this author Seung-Ryong Yang, Seung-Ryong Yang Seung-Ryong Yang is A research Scientist at North Dakota State University.Search for more papers by this authorB. Wade Brorsen, B. Wade Brorsen B. Wade Brorsen is a Professor in the Department of Agricultural Economics at Oklahoma State University.Search for more papers by this author First published: February 1995 https://doi.org/10.1002/fut.3990150105Citations: 13 AboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Citing Literature Volume15, Issue1February 1995Pages 45-59 RelatedInformation