The focus of this thesis is to explore the influence of market power possessed by seed input companies on rent distribution in an identity preserved production and marketing system. This thesis develops a theoretical model to estimate rent distribution between participants in an identity preserved production and marketing system under constrained production and the elicitation of a premium from market development activities in the presence of a range of seed ownership structures. The thesis employs an empirical model to examine rent distribution of two varieties involved in the Canadian Wheat Boards Identity Preserved Contract Program.<p> The theoretical model demonstrates that market development activities for an identity preserved production and marketing program had a diminished impact on farmers when the seed industry possessed a large degree of market power. The finding of the theoretical model were consistent with that of the empirical model, where the price of certified seed for varieties involved in the identity preserved production and marketing program were priced higher than conventional varieties. The difference in price was found to be greater than the premiums offered by the Identity Preserved Contract Program marketing and/or production contracts for Saskatchewan farmers that received average yields and average prices of grain.

The focus of this thesis is to explore the influence of market power possessed by seed input companies on rent distribution in an identity preserved production and marketing system. This thesis develops a theoretical model to estimate rent distribution between participants in an identity preserved production and marketing system under constrained production and the elicitation of a premium from market development activities in the presence of a range of seed ownership structures. The thesis employs an empirical model to examine rent distribution of two varieties involved in the Canadian Wheat Boards Identity Preserved Contract Program.<p> The theoretical model demonstrates that market development activities for an identity preserved production and marketing program had a diminished impact on farmers when the seed industry possessed a large degree of market power. The finding of the theoretical model were consistent with that of the empirical model, where the price of certified seed for varieties involved in the identity preserved production and marketing program were priced higher than conventional varieties. The difference in price was found to be greater than the premiums offered by the Identity Preserved Contract Program marketing and/or production contracts for Saskatchewan farmers that received average yields and average prices of grain.

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate how Western Canadian wheat producers’ make their marketing decisions. In Canada, wheat, durum wheat, and barley produced for human consumption and export are marketed through the Canadian Wheat Board (CWB), which offers several marketing contracts providing distinct combinations of risk, return, and cash flow. Pool pricing is the default alternative in which the CWB markets grain for producers, while Producer Payment Options (PPOs) represent instruments producers can use to price their wheat outside the pool. Results suggest that generally producers are not able to identify profit opportunities with PPOs, but active marketing strategies tend to generate better performance compared to passive strategies. Further, producers do not seem to repeat the same strategy every year and are influenced by previous performance when choosing their current marketing strategy. Finally, producers seem to follow price signals in choosing marketing contracts, indicating they track market movements and respond to the incentive of locking in higher prices.

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate how Western Canadian wheat producers’ make their marketing decisions. In Canada, wheat, durum wheat, and barley produced for human consumption and export are marketed through the Canadian Wheat Board (CWB), which offers several marketing contracts providing distinct combinations of risk, return, and cash flow. Pool pricing is the default alternative in which the CWB markets grain for producers, while Producer Payment Options (PPOs) represent instruments producers can use to price their wheat outside the pool. Results suggest that generally producers are not able to identify profit opportunities with PPOs, but active marketing strategies tend to generate better performance compared to passive strategies. Further, producers do not seem to repeat the same strategy every year and are influenced by previous performance when choosing their current marketing strategy. Finally, producers seem to follow price signals in choosing marketing contracts, indicating they track market movements and respond to the incentive of locking in higher prices.

This dissertation traces the historical transformation of the Canada-UK commodity chain for wheat-bread as a lens on processes of local and global change in agrofood relations. During the 1990s, the Canadian Wheat Board (Canada’s monopoly wheat seller) and Warburtons, a British bakery, pioneered an innovative identity-preserved sourcing relationship that ties contracted prairie farmers to consumers of premium bread in the UK. Emblematic of the increasing importance of quality claims, traceability, and private standards in the reorganization of agrifood supply chains, I argue that the changes of the 1990s cannot be understood outside of historical legacies giving shape to unique institutions for regulating agrofood relations on the Canadian prairies and in the UK food sector. I trace the rise, fall, and re-invention of the Canada-UK commodity chain across successive food regimes, examining the changing significance of wheat- bread, inter-state relations between Canada, the UK, and the US, and public and private forms of agrofood regulation over time. In particular, I focus on the way in which changing food regime relations transformed the CWB, understood as the nexus of institutions tying prairie farmers into global circuits of accumulation. When in the 1990s, the CWB and Warburtons responded to structural crises in their respective industries by re-inventing the Canada-UK wheat trade, the result was significant organizational and industry change. On the prairies, the CWB has shown how – contrary to expectations -- centralized marketing and quality control may help prairie farmers adapt to the demands of end-users in the emerging ‘economy of qualities’. In the UK, Warburtons has led the ‘premiumisation’ of the bread sector, traditionally defined by consumer taste for cheap bread, over the last 15 years. The significance of the shift towards quality chains in the wheat-bread sector is analyzed in light of conflicts over the proposed introduction of genetically engineered (GE) wheat to the Canadian prairies.

This dissertation traces the historical transformation of the Canada-UK commodity chain for wheat-bread as a lens on processes of local and global change in agrofood relations. During the 1990s, the Canadian Wheat Board (Canada’s monopoly wheat seller) and Warburtons, a British bakery, pioneered an innovative identity-preserved sourcing relationship that ties contracted prairie farmers to consumers of premium bread in the UK. Emblematic of the increasing importance of quality claims, traceability, and private standards in the reorganization of agrifood supply chains, I argue that the changes of the 1990s cannot be understood outside of historical legacies giving shape to unique institutions for regulating agrofood relations on the Canadian prairies and in the UK food sector. I trace the rise, fall, and re-invention of the Canada-UK commodity chain across successive food regimes, examining the changing significance of wheat- bread, inter-state relations between Canada, the UK, and the US, and public and private forms of agrofood regulation over time. In particular, I focus on the way in which changing food regime relations transformed the CWB, understood as the nexus of institutions tying prairie farmers into global circuits of accumulation. When in the 1990s, the CWB and Warburtons responded to structural crises in their respective industries by re-inventing the Canada-UK wheat trade, the result was significant organizational and industry change. On the prairies, the CWB has shown how – contrary to expectations -- centralized marketing and quality control may help prairie farmers adapt to the demands of end-users in the emerging ‘economy of qualities’. In the UK, Warburtons has led the ‘premiumisation’ of the bread sector, traditionally defined by consumer taste for cheap bread, over the last 15 years. The significance of the shift towards quality chains in the wheat-bread sector is analyzed in light of conflicts over the proposed introduction of genetically engineered (GE) wheat to the Canadian prairies.

This thesis examines some of the economic effects associated with the elimination of single desk marketing on Canadian feed barley exports. It focuses on the interactions between Canadian and US spot feed barley markets in transition after this policy change in Canada. A brief introduction about world and regional barley markets is provided. The role of the CWB single desk and its role in Canadian barley marketing are discussed to motivate analysis about the effects of its absence. This study postulates there should be no significant change in Canada–US regional feed barley markets, based on conclusions from previous studies. This postulate is broken down into three testable hypotheses under the framework of spatial price analysis. With respect to the Canada–US regional feed barley market as single desk marketing was eliminated in Canada; (1) There should not be a significant structural break in the feed barley prices; (2) There should not be a significant change in market integration; (3) There should not be a significant change in the direction of price transmission. To test these hypotheses, the study employs econometric tests on Canadian and US prices spot prices for substitutable feed barley. The hypotheses are tested using a structural break test, a cointegration test, a Granger causality test, and associated impulse response functions. Since structural break tests do not find significant breakpoints in the data, the first hypothesis cannot be rejected. Next, the sample is split into two subsamples at the date when single desk was eliminated. An Engle-Granger procedure and the Johansen procedure are used to test cointegrating relationships between the variables. The results do not allow us to reject the second hypothesis of no significant change in market integration. In contrast, the third hypothesis is rejected, as a significant change is uncovered using the Granger causality test. Simulated impulse responses are also consistent with this finding.