Forward marketing practices and attitudes of large-scale midwestern grain producers

Participants in the 1993, 1994, and 1995 Top Farmer Crop Workshops were surveyed with respect to their preharvest forward pricing, marketing practices, and marketing attitudes. Preharvest marketing of corn and soybeans, as of July 15 each year, was lower than hedging levels suggested by marketing research. Given the differences in price outlook for the years considered, producer behavior appears to reflect both long-term portfolio and short-term price enhancement effects. Producers' perceptions of the effectiveness of various marketing methods for price enhancement and price protection contrasted with theoretical characteristics. Views about futures and options contracts were generally similar for users and nonusers. It was found that self-assessed marketing skills, use of written marketing plans, and use of marketing consultants had little effect on marketing performance. These results, together with other recent studies, are used for suggestions about the design of future marketing educational programs.