Where is the value? The impacts of sow gestation crate laws on pork supply and consumer value perceptions

Despite varying farm animal welfare laws being enacted and considered, it is unclear and unknown whether they generate sufficient benefits to justify their costs. This study asks how sow gestation crate laws that dictate minimum crate size, a particular farm animal welfare law, impact meat production and the subsequent value that consumers place on meat produced under the laws. An observational analysis leverages the 8 states that have implemented laws regarding gestating sow crates in a difference-in-differences framework using staggered adoption robust estimators. We then perform a consumer preference experiment using a contingent valuation design with treatment effects to separate out the heterogeneous beliefs about animal welfare law effects. The results of the study show that such laws initially reduce gross income and supply, but only gross income recovers. For consumers, they value the corresponding pork products more in accordance with their animal welfare beliefs but not quality. Such information on costs and benefits should be considered in future laws relating to gestation crate bans.