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Quality Uncertainty and Challenges to Wheat Procurement

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  • William W. Wilson
  • Bruce L. Dahl
  • D. Demcey Johnson

Abstract

Issues related to quality uncertainty in wheat producing countries have escalated in importance in recent years. While Canada addresses these issues in part through variety regulations, firms in the United States resolve these through varying commercial strategies. Conventional alternatives for procurement range from spot purchases with specifications for easily measurable characteristics, to varying forms of strategies with precommitment. In grains, these are complicated by intrinsic uncertainty associated with functional qualities that are not easily measurable and that procurement costs vary spatially. Thus, shifting origins may involve higher cost due to having to bid grain away from its best market. We posed alternative procurement strategies and developed analytical models to evaluate the costs and risks of these in the case of hard red spring (HRS) wheat. Climatic conditions are a source of uncertainty in functional performance which reduces incentives for contracting and vertical integration, and poses a challenge to any form of integrated supply chain management. Les problèmes liés à l'incertitude quant à la qualité des approvisionnements des pays producteurs de blé ont augmenté au cours des dernières années. Tandis que le Canada s'attaque à ces problèmes en imposant divers règlements, des entreprises états‐uniennes les résolvent en adoptant diverses stratégies commerciales. Les moyens d'approvisionnement traditionnels varient des achats au comptant assortis de critères pour les caractéristiques facilement mesurables, à diverses stratégies comprenant un pré‐engagement. Dans le secteur des céréales, la situation est compliquée par l'incertitude intrinsèque quant aux qualités fonctionnelles qui ne sont pas facilement mesurables et le fait que les coûts d'approvisionnements varient d'un endroit à l'autre. Par conséquent, s'approvisionner dans d'autres pays pourrait entraîner des coûts plus élevés en privant le secteur de son meilleur marché. Nous avons formulé d'autres stratégies d'approvisionnement et élaboré des modèles analytiques pour évaluer les coûts et les risques de ces stratégies dans le cas du blé de force roux de printemps. Les conditions climatiques sont une source d'incertitude de la qualité fonctionnelle qui diminue les incitatifs pour la conclusion de contrat et l'intégration verticale et qui pose un obstacle pour toute forme de gestion intégrée de la chaîne d'approvisionnement.

Suggested Citation

  • William W. Wilson & Bruce L. Dahl & D. Demcey Johnson, 2007. "Quality Uncertainty and Challenges to Wheat Procurement," Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics/Revue canadienne d'agroeconomie, Canadian Agricultural Economics Society/Societe canadienne d'agroeconomie, vol. 55(3), pages 315-326, September.
  • Handle: RePEc:bla:canjag:v:55:y:2007:i:3:p:315-326
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1744-7976.2007.00094.x
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. MacDonald, James M. & Korb, Penelope J., 2006. "Agricultural Contracting Update: Contracts in 2003," Economic Information Bulletin 33903, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
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    Cited by:

    1. Angelo Frascarelli & Stefano Ciliberti & Gustavo Magalhães de Oliveira & Gabriele Chiodini & Gaetano Martino, 2021. "Production Contracts and Food Quality: A Transaction Cost Analysis for the Italian Durum Wheat Sector," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-12, March.
    2. William W. Wilson & Wesley Wilson & Bruce Dahl, 2009. "Protein and the demand for hard wheats ," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 53(2), pages 285-303, April.
    3. William, Wilson & Dahl, Bruce & Hertsgaard, David, 2020. "Soybean quality differentials, blending, testing and spatial arbitrage," Journal of Commodity Markets, Elsevier, vol. 18(C).
    4. Prithviraj Lakkakula & David W. Bullock & William W. Wilson, 2022. "Asymmetric information and blockchains in soybean commodity markets," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 44(1), pages 273-298, March.

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