E. Dean Baldwin

Preharvest Marketing Strategies Increase Net Returns for Corn and Soybean Growers

Grain producers price grain prior to harvest to reduce financial risk and to enhance net returns. Because accomplishing the second objective is debatable, alternative corn and soybean preharvest options and hedge marketing strategies were designed to test the hypothesis that preharvest pricing could generate statistically higher average net returns than harvest sales without increasing variability. Weekly seasonal futures price patterns from 1975 to 1994 were used to time marketings. The strategies were applied to Iowa and Ohio model farms. The hypothesis was accepted for some strategies that included options but not for futures-only strategies.

Pricing Accuracy and Efficiency in a Pilot Electronic Hog Market

Daily average prices for hogs sold through the Hog Accelerated Marketing System (HAMS), an experimental electronic market, were compared to those for similar grade hogs sold through Peoria terminal and Indiana direct markets. Results indicate that prices received by farmers using HAMS increased by

Ethanol fuel as an octane enhancer in the US fuel market

0.94 to

Futures spread risk in soybean multiyear hedge-to-arrive contracts

0.99 per 100 pounds relative to their previous alternative. Using frequency of price change and average amount of price change as measures of efficient pricing behavior, the electronic market exhibited more efficient behavior than the traditional markets, i.e., average prices changed from one day to the next more frequently and by smaller amounts.

Policy and risk implications for an individual grain farm

Abstract Ethanol from corn is an important US renewable energy source. In 1986, about 3·3 billion liters of ethanol were used, primarily as a gasoline extender. With lead phasedown, ethanol (octane rating of 113-16) is being considered as an alternative octane source. First, octane requirements following enactment of lead phasedown regulations are determined. Competing octane sources are then analyzed under various oil price, corn price and policy (subsidies, import tariffs) scenarios. At corn price levels of

Spatial organization of marketing facilities in developing countries: A case study of oilseeds in Sudan

59.05–68.90 Mg and oil prices of

A DISCRIMINANT ANALYSIS OF GRAIN MARKET STRUCTURE IN SELECTED STATES OF THE SOUTH AND CORNBELT

16–26 per barrel, a subsidy of

Estimating a Theoretical Contract Curve between Vertical Stages in the Illinois Grain Industry

0.07–0.105 per liter would be necessary for ethanol to compete with other octane enhancers. Potential demand for ethanol could approach 10.7 billion liters per year. A tariff of

Pre-Harvest Marketing Strategies Increase Net Returns for Corn and Soybean Growers

0.035–0.071 per liter on imported ethanol (net of subsidy) would be necessary to protect this potential market for US corn-based ethanol.

Pricing performance of an electronic slaughter hog market

Soybean futures spreads in the 1948-1997 period are evaluated for the associated monetary risks inherent in multiyear hedge-to-arrive contracts (HTAs). For all years, the probability of having a negative old crop-new crop spread is approximately 75%. However, the high-price years have a 100% probability of having a negative spread and a 50-60% probability of having a negative spread exceeding 10 percent. The spread risk in high price years makes a multiyear HTA an imprecise hedge. Thus, establishing new crop prices close to current futures prices by initially using old crop futures is unlikely