Risk management of the agricultural income: the inter‐Rhône reserve

Abstract

Purpose

Agricultural risks will tend to increase in the future, but risk management instruments and techniques at the disposal of wine companies are relatively limited. This paper aims to present an original risk protection mechanism implemented by the federation of Côte du Rhône (Inter‐Rhône) wine producers to build up a wine stock, or “reserve”, so as to protect their incomes against fluctuation in prices and production.

Design/methodology/approach

Using the VaR (value‐at‐risk) methodology, the stock level that will protect producers against a fall in their incomes is determined. More specifically, the probability that a given producer's current income falls lower than a target minimum income must be inferior or equal to a given (small) wine stock level. An agricultural income depends on price and production, so the reserve amount is expressed according to price and production quantity risk (measured by standard deviation), and the correlation between the two. The wine stock reserve is compared with a reserve invested in financial assets.

Findings

A static comparative analysis is made using simulations of the two types of reserves (wine stock and financial assets) according to the various explanatory variables. Empirical study makes it possible to calculate reserve amounts for each category of wine managed by Inter‐Rhône. The study reveals a strong disparity in the amount of reserves of each wine.

Originality/value

The reserve system is considered by some to give to the producer federation the power to control supply below the equilibrium level in order to receive monopoly rents. To avoid this occurring the constitution of a mutual fund is recommended. This solution allows producers to profit from diversification gains and greater managerial flexibility.

Citation

Viviani, J. (2006), "Risk management of the agricultural income: the inter‐Rhône reserve", British Food Journal, Vol. 108 No. 4, pp. 290-305. https://doi.org/10.1108/00070700610657137