The discovery of the first domestically originating North American bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) case dominated discussions concerning the marketing development prospects of an entire industry. By considering the industry as a political economy, the concept of the task environment paradigm, as recognized in marketing literature, is integrated with the political economy framework. Marketing activities in the cattle industry pervade the framework presented in this article. Dimensions of environmental uncertainty are also presented. Personal testimony from beef producers is considered to add a human element to the theoretical discussion. Furthermore, this article provides an empirical perspective on the means by which sudden effects from the macroenvironment of a marketing channel create uncertainty, which is intensified in today’s increasingly complex and turbulent agrifood markets.
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