About

Tina L. Saitone is a Professor of Cooperative Extension specializing in Livestock and Rangeland Economics, Agricultural Economics and Policy, Producer Organizations, Cooperatives, Industrial Organization, Product Differentiation and Marketing, and Food Policy. Her work focuses on issues related to agricultural markets, food systems, and policy analysis, contributing to the understanding of how producer organizations and cooperatives operate within the broader agricultural economy. Her research and extension activities aim to improve market efficiency, support sustainable agricultural practices, and inform policy decisions affecting the food and agricultural sectors.

Research topics

• Geography
• Economics
• Medicine
• Finance
• Actuarial science
• Ecology
• Biology
• Agricultural science
• Fishery
• Agronomy
• Environmental science
• Business
• Agroforestry
• Forestry
• Demography
• Agricultural economics
• Engineering

Selected publications

• Wolf Presence Disrupts Seasonal Variation in Hair Cortisol Among Free‐Ranging Beef Cattle

  Ecology and Evolution · 2026-04-01

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  ABSTRACT Understanding how predator reintroduction indirectly affects prey physiology remains poorly understood. We examined hair cortisol concentrations in 79 beef cattle from nine herds across California's Sierra Nevada, comparing herds exposed to the Lassen Wolf Pack with unexposed herds. We collected hair samples before and after summer grazing ( n = 158 samples) and used Bayesian multilevel regression to test for effects of wolf presence. Wolf‐exposed herds showed a 58% reduction in temperature sensitivity compared to unexposed herds (where cortisol decreased 13.5% per 1°C), suggesting altered seasonal cortisol regulation. These preliminary results point toward a potential physiological mechanism by which predator reintroduction may indirectly affect prey, with implications for understanding how recovering carnivores could influence prey physiology, animal welfare, and productivity.

  PublisherDOI

• Consolidation, productivity, and downstream prices in the US poultry industry

  Agricultural and Resource Economics Review · 2025-03-24 · 1 citations

  articleOpen access1st author

  Abstract Concentration in animal-based protein industries in the United States continues to garner the interest of policymakers, researchers, and consumers alike. We assess the impacts of industry concentration on animal productivity and downstream prices in the US broiler chicken industry between 1991 and 2019. We compile a dataset that matches annual, plant-level information on ownership and sales for all poultry processing facilities in the United States with market-level wholesale composite prices and bird yields. Consolidation over the last three decades has greatly contributed to industry concentration, leading to higher wholesale composite broiler prices (16.3%) and gains in animal productivity (2.4%).

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• The Effects of the U.S. Poultry Industry Consolidation on Employee Productivity and Wages

  SSRN Electronic Journal · 2025-01-01

  preprintOpen access1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Consolidation and Concentration in U.S. Meat Processing: Updated Measures Using Plant-Level Data

  Review of Industrial Organization · 2023-10-05 · 9 citations

  article1st author
  PublisherDOI

• Food retailer response to price gouging litigation

  Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy · 2023-01-11 · 7 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Abstract Price gouging laws are designed to protect consumers from skyrocketing prices, but are they beneficial in practice? In this research, we analyze food retailers' response to widespread price gouging litigation for table eggs at the onset of the COVID‐19 pandemic. Our results suggest that price gouging litigation led to a dramatic change in US food retailer behavior, which persisted long after the resolution of many of these legal disputes. Major grocery retail chains responded to price gouging litigation by announcing price freezes on thousands of staple products. By rigidly adhering to pre‐pandemic price levels for eggs, we find that retailer response led to a breakdown in the historic dynamic equilibrium relationship between egg prices and the costs of major inputs. At a time when the cost of egg production increased sharply, we find that retailers chose to reduce their purchases and price promotions for eggs rather than raise prices. This suggests that—in response to price gouging litigation—food retailers are willing to accept empty shelves in lieu of increasing prices.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Leveraging meatpacking ownership concentration and community centrality to improve disease resiliency

  Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems · 2022-08-25 · 2 citations

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  The U.S. meat processing sector has been subject to amplified scrutiny after workers exhibited disproportionately high rates of COVID-19 infections and deaths. In response, Tyson Foods—one of the largest meat packers in the country—mandated that its employees be vaccinated against COVID-19 by November 1, 2021. In this paper, we investigate the impact that the Tyson vaccine mandate had on vaccine uptake, infection rates, and deaths in counties where Tyson processing facilities are located. We find that the mandate resulted in approximately 35,000 additional vaccinations. The resultant vaccine uptake avoided 98 COVID-19 infections per day and nearly 75 COVID-19-related deaths; the associated public health savings total $45.4 million. Employee health-related interventions at the corporate level can leverage industry ownership concentration and the centrality of packing operations in host communities to improve health outcomes and disease resiliency well beyond the packing operations.

  PublisherDOI

• Basis risk in the pasture, rangeland, and forage insurance program: Evidence from California

  American Journal of Agricultural Economics · 2022 · 21 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding
  • Business
  • Agricultural economics
  • Agricultural science

  Abstract Agricultural producers who are reliant upon rangelands and pasturelands are some of the most vulnerable to weather‐related risk given their dependence on climate‐sensitive resources. Index‐based insurance products, like the Pasture, Rangeland, and Forage Insurance Program, are considered to be an adaptation strategy for mitigating climatic risks. Given that indices are imperfect predictors of losses, residual (basis) risk persists. This study quantifies basis risk and assesses insurance contract quality for nearly 63 million acres of rangelands in California. Basis risk can be summarized by considering false negative probabilities—the probability that an insured producer suffers a loss without receiving an indemnity payment. On California rangelands the false negative probabilities associated with one (both) of insured time intervals failing to indemnify a loss are 31% to 46% (14%–25%). When indemnities were paid, in 36% of the cases the payments are not sufficient to compensate for forage‐related losses; the average shortfall in indemnity‐related compensation ranged from $1.74/acre to $2.73/acre depending upon the location and underlying value of forage.

  PublisherDOI

• Leveraging Meatpacking Ownership Concentration and Community Centrality to Improve Disease Resiliency

  SSRN Electronic Journal · 2022-01-01 · 2 citations

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• COVID-19 morbidity and mortality in U.S. meatpacking counties

  Food Policy · 2021 · 92 citations

  1st authorCorresponding
  • Geography
  • Demography
  • Medicine
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Impacts of Electronic Benefit Transfer on the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) Program: Evidence from Oklahoma

  Journal of agricultural and resource economics · 2021-01-01

  articleOpen access
  Publisher

Frequent coauthors

• Richard J. Sexton

  United States Naval Observatory

  68 shared

• K. Aleks Schaefer

  13 shared

• Patrick W. McLaughlin

  Ascension Providence Hospital

  9 shared

• Richard Volpe

  California Polytechnic State University

  9 shared

• Michael K. Adjemian

  7 shared

• Daniel Scheitrum

  California Polytechnic State University

  7 shared

• Pierre Mérel

  A.P. Giannini Foundation

  6 shared

• B. Wade Brorsen

  Oklahoma State University

  4 shared

Education

• B.A.

  California State University, Sonoma

  2003

• M.S., Agricultural and Resource Economics

  University of California, Davis

  2005

• Ph.D., Agricultural and Resource Economics

  University of California, Davis

  2008