Commodity Pork Price Forecasting for Hormel Fresh Pork Sales Team
Cortney (Bowden) Bally, Brownsdale, Minn., defended her thesis, “Commodity Pork Price Forecasting for Hormel Fresh Pork Sales Team,” on February 11, 2011. She is currently an Associate National Account Manager with Hormel Foods Company in Austin, Minn. She will graduate from Kansas State University in May with a Master’s in Agribusiness (MAB).
The pork industry has seen many changes in recent years. To remain competitive, Hormel Foods is reviewing current forecasting tools to determine their accuracy and value to the company.
“If our forecasts are more accurate, we can enable our customers to more aggressively advertise our product, as well as maintain a bottom line profit margin for the division of the company,” Bally said.
The objectives of Bally’s study include determining forecasting accuracy for bone-in loins, boneless loins, butts, and ribs pricing within Hormel Foods, and determining the relationship between the number of weeks forward in pricing and forecasting accuracy of those products.
Glynn Tonsor, Assistant Professor of Agricultural Economics and Bally’s thesis advisor, said, “Cortney’s thesis research evaluated the forecasting accuracy of alternative providers of pork price forecasting information. Through her data analysis, she was able to determine the proper combination of forecasting method for each specific commodity and the number of weeks out.”
