Cash Wheat Marketing: Strategies for Real People

A new paradigm is needed in extension marketing programs. Attempts to help producers time the market, either through cask sales or futures trading, appear to be of little benefit. Marketing extension programs need to place less emphasis on outlook and futures trading and more emphasis on simple marketing strategies that people really use. An empirical example of strategies for Oklahoma wheat producers shows selling cash wheat at harvest and participating in government programs as the preferred marketing strategy. Implications for extension programs in other states are that extension programs can help producers decide whether to store their grain and whether to participate in farm programs.