Farm operators who sell crop production inputs: The case of Ohio farmers who sell seed
✍ Scribed by Carl R. Zulauf; Kevin F. King
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 1985
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 388 KB
- Volume
- 1
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0742-4477
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
A random sample of Ohio farm operators was surveyed about the revenue they earned from selling seed to farmers. Approximately 15% of the survey respondents reported selling seed to farmers. For most respondents who ~( ~l d seed the seed dealership was not an important source of income. However. some sold substantial amounts. Those who sold more than $SO00 of seed were more likelv tu he full-time farmers than other survey respondents. Lastly. selling *ed was asswiatetl with a greater discount on seed purchased for the farming operation.
Increasing costs of production for crops accompanied by depressed crop prices have forced many crop farmers to look for itrategies which can cut farm production costs and/or create additional sources of income. One strategy which may accomplish both is to sell a crop production input. Income is generated from selling the input while cost of production may be reduced because, being an input seller, the farmer 'may purchase the input a t the wholesale price or, more likelv, at a higher volume discount due to aggregating his purchases with those of his customers.
Few studies have even tangentially addressed the phenomenon of farmer selling of crop production inputs. Krentz, Heid, and Sitler' and Smith, Richardson, and Knutson' found that, as farm size increased, the proportion of farmers with interest
The authors thank David Hahn and two anonymous jourrial reviewers for their helpful supgestions and comments.