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Abstract
Pulse production in the United States has become geographically specific and
concentrated, and the marketing channels for pulses have changed dramatically
over the past 30 years. The most marked change has be~n the growth of large
proprietary marketing firms which are vertically integrated as national packagers
and exporters, and procure directly from pulse producers through their own
elevators. Farmer cooperatives as a whole have been unable to effectively
countervail this growth in market concentration. Cooperatives do, 'however, have
the potential to counteract their competition's position by pooling pulses,
merging regional marketing agencies into a single national cooperative marketing
agency in common, and/or by packaging, canning and exporting pulses themselves.