LAUSR

This article presents an analysis of risk management by French cereal farmers Producers are subject to market and production risks and to environmental restrictions. The paper analyses cereal farmers’ strategies to manage risks through marketing contracts and production decisions. Three main categories of marketing contracts are adopted bearing different risk levels: forward contracts, average price contracts and spot contracts. A hundred wheat producers are surveyed in SouthWest France. The quantitative analysis of their contractual choices shows that risk perceptions and the farmer’s level of education have an influence on contractual choice while crop diversification is negatively correlated with forward contracts.