4 BULLETIN 937, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



MARKETING CONDITIONS. 



In the actual physical handling of grain the bulk handling- 

 method prevails in Canada, as it does in the middle western section 

 of the United States. But in the method of marketing on the part 

 of the individual growers there is a difference in practice. In the 

 Middle Western States the local farmers' elevator is usually con- 

 fined in its activities to buying and selling the grain of its member- 

 patrons and others, and its principal source of revenue is in the 

 profits made upon resale. Comparatively few growers ship direct 

 to commission firms in the terminal markets, and even the practice 

 of storing grain for farmers by the local elevators is being discour- 

 aged. In Canada, on the other hand, the grower has a choice between 

 several methods of marketing his grain. 



(1) He may deliver his grain to the local elevator, and sell it at 

 the current price paid by the elevator in the same manner that most 

 of the country grain is sold in the Middle Western States, in which 

 case it is designated as " street grain," and the prices which are paid 

 for grain sold in this manner are called " street prices." 



(2) He may have his grain stored in a special bin, the identity 

 of the grain being preserved, and later he may have it loaded into 

 cars for direct shipment. In this case he pays to the elevator com- 

 pany merely its charge for storage and loading. After the grain 

 is loaded into the car, and before it is shipped, he may sell it to the 

 elevator company with which he special-binned it or he may sell it 

 to any other company or track buyer, in which case it is referred to 

 as " track grain," and the prices paid for this kind of grain are 

 called " track prices " ; or he may ship to the terminal market, there 

 to be sold on consignment either by the same elevator company, pro- 

 viding it is engaged in the commission business, or by some other 

 commission firm. 



(3) He may have his grain placed in store in the local elevator 

 with other -grain of like kind and grade, which is called "grade 

 storage," and at some time in the future he may sell it as " street 

 grain " ; he may have an equivalent number of bushels loaded into 

 a car, and there sold as " track grain ." ; or he may ship on his own 

 individual account to the terminal market. 



(4) He may load his grain directly into the car, utilizing the 

 loading platforms provided by the railroad companies for that pur- 

 pose, and sell it as track grain or consign it direct to some commis- 

 sion firm in the terminal market. 



(5) If upon arrival in the terminal market of grain shipped for 

 the account of a grower the grower elects not to sell, he may under 

 certain conditions have the car ordered to a public terminal elevator 

 for further storage. Direct shipment privileges, of course, are lim- 

 ited to carload quantities. 



