Use of Agricultural Market reports in Argentina

Abstract

In neoclassical economics, decision makers are defined as people who maximize their incomes and enterprises which maximize their profits by using complete and relevant information. At sowing time, farmers have to decide what to produce, what quantity, when to sell, and to whom. If the enterprise produces commodities, the price is determined by the market. In economies in which the market regulates production through price, information plays a very important role. The objective of this work was to identify, characterize and select the relevant international and domestic market reports used by farmers. Interviews were conducted with qualified informants and stakeholders using a purposive, non-probabilistic sample. The results showed the relevance of the USDA and Rosario Stock Exchange reports as a source of information on international and domestic markets, respectively. Farm size is a variable to consider, since medium and large producers use this type of reports, with the latter using international reports more frequently. Smaller-scale producers would not use market reports.