Key issues in the current agricultural debate include the future of family farms, levels of government support for farms, the roles of marketing institutions and the effect of new trade arrangements. In part, these issues have arisen because of recent price volatility, but the agricultural...

The organic industry in Canada is growing and Alberta organic grain producers have expressed a concern that the marketing system for organic grains in Alberta is poorly organized. This poorly organized system may hinder producers from optimizing market potential. This paper assesses different...

This study examines the nature of Supply Chain Management (SCM) in the Canadian barley industry, economic theories related to SCM, identifies SCM drivers and reviews the Canadian barley marketing system. Two surveys were conducted; one on the feed barley segment of the market; another on the malt...

This report examines market opportunities in British Columbia for Alberta produced table potatoes. The report also seeks (1) to assess the cost competitiveness of the Alberta table potato sector, compared with costs of potato production in British Columbia and the Pacific Northwest (PNW) of the...

Over the past few years, there has been growing global interest in the link between food and health. This paper provides a review of some of the recent literature describing these linkages. The first section provides an overview of findings that link the consumption of fruits and vegetables,...

The central issue addressed in this paper is the attributes preferred by a sample of buyers of durum wheat grown in Canada. Primary emphasis is the value placed on certain visual and nonvisual attributes by US buyers of durum wheat. In addition, a source variable in the analysis is used to test...

We develop a dynamic soil quality model to evaluate optimal cropping systems in the northern Great Plains. Modeling soil quality attributes is feasible, and attribute model results apply to a wide range of soils. A crop production system with continuous spring wheat and direct planting is the...

Feed peas are relatively high in energy and protein and compete with other feed grains and protein crops in the livestock feed market. Prior to 1995, a futures market did not exist for this commodity. To meet industry demand for a hedging and forward pricing mechanism, the Winnipeg Commodity...