ASSESMENT OF EXTRINSIC FACTORS INFLUENCING CATTLE PRICING AND PROFITABILITY OF CATTLE MARKETS IN SOUTH-WESTERN, NIGERIA.

This study was carried out in South-western, Nigeria with the aim to assess the extrinsic factors influencing pricing and profitability of cattle in cattle markets. Producers are better informed characteristics of product demand, determinants of short-run cattle prices and price differentials among cattle breeds are communicated, their lack of which can result in inability to alter production and marketing decisions to maximize profitability and meet consumer demands. Cross-sectional data was collected from randomly selected 121 and 379 wholesalers and retailers respectively from three states' where cattle markets are predominant. The sample size was selected through a multistage sampling technique. The result of the estimated co-efficient from the Hedonic model for a wholesalers, show an R2 value of 87 per cent of goodness of fit. The Age of animal with coefficient of 3.25, body size of 9.42 and body grade of 5.42 were positive and significant at (P< 0.05), (P<0.1) and (P<0.05) respectively which indicates that the higher the age, bigger size and body grade the higher the price of the cattle. Meanwhile, the horn length had a negative significant level with the pricing of the cattle at (p<0.001). The estimates for Retailers' Hedonic Regression Model had an R2 of 58.76. The age of the animal, sex of the animal, body colour, body size, body grade and horn length had a positive relationship with price of a cattle at significant level of (P< 0.1, P<0.05,P<0.05,P<0.05, P<0.05 and P <0.001). The horn length was positive but not significant