Grower perceptions of the impact of protein premiums and discounts for wheat

This paper presents results of a survey of Western Australian wheat growers designed to elicit perceptions of the impact of protein premiums and discounts for wheat on income, utility and off-farm risk management. The results indicate that a grower’s perception of the scheme’s impact on expected income and utility depends on that grower’s expected protein level. Additionally, growers do not perceive protein premiums and discounts to have affected the variance of income, or their willingness-to-pay for a forward contract. These latter findings are contrary to previous studies of actual rather than perceived effects. However, the perceptions of growers are understandable given that the scheme’s effect on the variance of income is small relative to its effect on the level of expected income. A further result is that growers with low expected protein levels expect to be disadvantaged by the scheme, which is consistent with studies of actual effects.