Marketing of Agricultural Products / Edition 8

This ninth edition represents an updating of Marketing of Agricultural Products, first published in 1955. As with previous editions, the goal has been to keep the text up to date with the real world in which food marketing students and managers find themselves. More than ever before, the appropriate organization and functioning of the world's food marketing system are of concern not only to those producers and marketing firms directly involved but to consumers and the general public as well. Increasingly, foreign trade in agricultural and food products ties domestic agricultural markets into the worldwide scene.

No book can be all things to all people. This book, like the previous editions, is written for those who are beginning their study of the food marketing system. It is designed for students who have had little or no previous contact with marketing or economics. The book presents the starting points for learning and discussion and leaves to the teacher the task of adjusting the levels of knowledge and achievement to the particular class involved. To aid in this, bibliographic references to key government and commercial references are supplied. It is hoped that these will encourage further study and call attention to the immense volume of marketing literature now available.

Textbooks are not novels! Learning requires work and discipline. However, it has been our pleasure over the years to hear students' and instructors' favorable comments on the readability of this book. Some of our colleagues have commented that it is too elementary and easy. This, however, we have accepted as a compliment rather than a criticism. Textbooks should be written for students, not our professional colleagues.

The approach of this edition continues that of earlier editions. It attempts to look at the food marketing system from several angles: the functional approach, the institutional approach, the micro-firm and macro-system approaches, and the commodity approach. Each of these approaches provides unique and complementary perspectives of the food industry. The book also blends the descriptive, analytical, and normative approaches to understanding the food marketing system.

New material has been added to update important market developments and events, particularly in the areas of vertical market coordination, risk management, farm policy, international trade and globalization, biotechnology, e-commerce, and value-added marketing strategies. Mini-cases have also been added to illustrate the controversial nature of food marketing and food marketing public policy concerns. There are also many new references to valuable public and private food marketing world wide web sites.

The objectives of the book continue to be to assist students and managers in understanding the structure and workings of the food marketing system, to examine how this system affects farmers, consumers, and middlemen, and to illustrate how this dynamic market system has responded to technological, social, economic, and political forces over time. The book reflects the adage, Nothing is changing, except everything.

While the focus of the book remains on the economics of the food system, there are liberal references to the social, political, and historical aspects of food marketing. The authors are aware of the use of this text throughout the world. The book emphasizes the U.S. food marketing system, but there are extensive references to marketing and market development in other countries.

In any book that has an extended history such as this one, many people have made valuable comments and suggestions for improvement. Indeed, in a survey book like this, it is difficult to cite all the original sources of material. We have borrowed shamelessly from our book users and competitors in writing the text. The authors would be happy to receive suggestions and critical comments from readers (uh1@agecon.purdue.edu). The author's class at Purdue that uses this text can be visited at the web site: http://www.agecon.purdue.edu/academic/agec220/index.html

We wish to acknowledge, in particular, the following reviewers who provided valuable insight and helpful feedback in the preparation of this revision: Dragan Miljkovic, Southwest Missouri State University; Wendy Umberger, University of Nebraska-Lincoln; Anthon H. Turley, Ricks College; Robert Herrmann, Penn State University; Kevin J. Bacon, Central Missouri State University; John E. Cottingham, University of Wisconsin-Platteville; Douglas J. Miller, Iowa State University; and Raymond T. Folwell, Washington State University.

We are grateful for the administrative support of the Department of Agricultural Economics at Purdue and to our families.

Richard L. Kohls Joseph N. Uhl