Master of Science / Department of Agricultural Economics / Mykel Taylor / Forward contracts are one of the main tools used by producers to manage price risk because forward contracts shift the risk from producers to the grain elevator offering the contract. The elevators protect themselves from this risk by hedging, leaving them susceptible to basis risk, which they offset by adding a risk premium to the forward contracts they offer producers. This risk premium is affected by increased volatility and by differences in elevator-specific characteristics at elevator locations across Kansas. This study replicates the results in Taylor, Tonsor, and Dhuyvetter (2013) and adds a set of elevator-specific characteristics to measure their effect on risk premiums. A random effects generalized least squares model is estimated due to the data gathered being panel data. The contribution of this study is to further examine the drivers of risk premiums in forward contracts for Kansas wheat. The results indicate that all of the elevator-specific characteristics in the data set have a statistically significant impact on the value of risk premiums on forward contracts for Kansas wheat. The results also confirm the findings in Mallory, Etienne, and Irwin (2012) and Taylor, Tonsor, and Dhuyvetter (2013) that increased volatility post 2007 caused increases in risk premiums. The risk premiums after the structural break in 2007 increased by $0.069695/bushel, as the average risk premium prior to 2008 was $0.158682/bushel, while the average risk premium after 2007 was $0.228378/bushel.

Master of Agribusiness / Department of Agricultural Economics / Vincent R. Amanor-Boadu / The Kansas Wheat Commission and the Kansas Association of Wheat Growers offer a number of services to Kansas wheat producers. Kansas wheat producers will be willing to pay more if they perceive they are getting more value from the Kansas wheat organizations. However, Kansas wheat producers are unaware of what the Kansas wheat organizations are doing on their behalf. It is believed that if Kansas wheat producers were more aware of what their organizations were doing on their behalf, they would be willing to contribute more. The overall objective is to improve Kansas wheat producer knowledge of Kansas Wheat activities. A survey of Kansas wheat producers provided data about willingness to pay, importance of services, channel preferences and producer demographics. Funds provided by the Kansas wheat assessment are used for a number of projects and programs. Current programs can be categorized into four areas: research; education, communications, and meetings supporting Kansas wheat growers; domestic market development; and international market development. When asked to rank those four areas from highest to lowest priority, respondents overwhelmingly chose research as the highest priority investment of the Kansas wheat assessment. The survey results indicated that Kansas wheat producers were willing to pay an amount above the current level of 10 mills per bushel for the Kansas wheat assessment. The mean response was 12.42 mills. Members of the Kansas Association of Wheat Growers were willing to pay more for the assessment (15.13 mills per bushel) than non-members. In general, radio is the preferred channel of Kansas wheat producers; however, the two most listed publications and radio stations they rely on for information about wheat were High Plains Journal (33%) and Kansas Farmer (30%), both industry publications. Other producer demographics such as location in the state, type of producer, and acreage also affect producers' willingness to pay.