ABSTRACT Changes in grain handling technologies and favorable terms on rail services are encouraging construction of state of the art grain handling facilities. Given these are high fixed and low marginal cost operations that are becoming increasingly vertically interdependent, the investments...

Wheat protein is one of the most important specifications used in domestic and import purchase contracts and is used partly as a proxy for functional quality. The purpose of this article is to analyse the demand for wheat delineated by protein class. A choice-based econometric model is specified...

The United States and Brazil fiercely compete with each other in the Chinese soybean import market. Logistical functions and costs are volatile and risky, and influence the export competition between the two countries. This study analyzes commodity trading strategies and the effect of logistical...

A stochastic optimization model was developed to determine optimal testing strategies, costs, and risks for dual marketing of genetically modified (GM) and non-GM wheat in an export supply chain. The optimal testing strategy is derived that minimizes disutility of additional system costs due to...

Malt barley is an important specialty crop in the Northern Plains and growers mitigate risk with federally subsidized crop insurance and production contracts. However, growers face considerable risk due to "“coverage gaps"” in crop insurance that result in uncertain indemnity payments due to...

Consistency of functional characteristics in hard red spring (HRS) wheat is a concern confronting sellers and buyers. This research analyzes contract incentives for importers with respect to cost and potential risk of acceptance. A principal-agent framework is utilized to examine contract...

Roundup Ready® Wheat (RRW) was one of the first genetically modified (GM) traits for the wheat sector and was under review by regulatory agencies in the United States and Canada when Monsanto withdrew it from further consideration. There are a multitude of issues associated with the ex ante...

Agricultural firms that use Value at Risk (VaR) tend to be the large diversified corporations. The benefits of VaR in the agricultural industry are not limited to large conglomerates; however, and this study provides empirical examples of how mid to large sized commodity end-users can use VaR to...

U.S. white corn production, consumption, and exports increased from 1980 to 1999/00 and production and area have since declined. White corn is produced largely in Nebraska, Kentucky, and Texas, although production in Texas has declined and has increased in other states (Illinois, Indiana, and...