Values of Australian wheat and flour quality characteristics

Abstract

There is currently a lack of information regarding the values of Australia's wheat and flour characteristics. A hedonic price function is applied to Australia's wheat exports over the period 1976–1977 to 1990–1991 to estimate the implicit prices of wheat and flour characteristics. The results suggest that protein is the most important wheat characteristic with a premium of $8.80/T/percentage point. Other wheat characteristics such as thousand-kernel weight and ash content are also found to have significant premiums and discounts. For flour, protein with a premium of $5.34/T/percent-age point and color grade are the most important characteristics. The implications of the results for policy formulation in relation to the grading system, breeding programs, and marketing are discussed. ©1994 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.