CASH MARKETING STYLES AND PERFORMANCE PERSISTENCE OF WHEAT PRODUCERS

Years of research have been dedicated to determining the best time for producers to sell their commodities. Researchers have developed basis models, market efficiency tests, hedging/risk models, price forecasting models, and many other models in an attempt to help producers. There is a vast amount of material on how economists believe that a rational producer should act and react in the market place. However, there is little research on how producers actually sell commodities. This paper first measures the extent to which producers display an active or mechanical marketing style using individual farmer sales. Next, tests of performance persistence are conducted to determine if there is any advantage to an active marketing style. The results show that southern Oklahoma wheat producers tend to have a mechanical marketing style, while at other locations producers appear to have a more active style. The results show no evidence of performance persistence and thus suggest that there is no advantage to using an active marketing style.