Changing Grain Market Channels

Excerpts from the Introduction: The flow of grain through channels from the producer to the consumer is a continually changing process. Changes occur gradually and over a long period of time. Marketing channels are affected by many factors such as total grain production, shifts in population, new technology, changes in farming operations, engineering feats such as new highways and the Saint Lawrence Seaway, new markets at home and abroad, and competitive advantages. Changes in marketing channels may, for example, be causes or results of mergers, consolidations, integrations, and liquidations or additional entries into the industry. Such changes usually influence the efficiency of the marketing system in all of its functions Information on the nature and extent of changes can affect decisions of marketing firms and their operations. The objectives of this primarily descriptive study are (1) to estimate the volumes of grain that flowed through various marketing channels in 1959 and contrast the volumes with estimates for earlier years, (2) to indicate some of the major forces causing the changes that have occurred, and (3) to suggest some of the possible effects of these changes on grain marketing in the future.