Evaluation of commodity exchanges' trading activities and contributions to the marketing of agricultural products by farmers

In this study, the effects of commodity exchanges on regional agriculture in the places where they operate, were investigated specifically for Uzunköprü Commodity Exchange. A survey was conducted with 138 farmers, including farmers who traded in Uzunköprü Commodity Exchange, as well as farmers who did not prefer this organization in product marketing. The average age of the farmers was 52.20, their average education period was 9.87 years, their agricultural experience was 30.33 years, their average number of family members was 3.69, and their average number of members working in agriculture was 1.84. The total land size cultivated by the farmers was 300.09 da, the size of the property land was 171.15 da, and the size of the land they cultivated on rent was 128.94 da. 84.96% of the farmers stated that they sold their products to the Soil Products Office, 73.19% to the Uzunköprü Commodity Exchange, 67.39% to merchants, while 41.30% stated that they sold products through licensed warehousing. While the most important reason for the farmers who stated that they sold products to the Uzunköprü Commodity Exchange was to immediately receive the price of the product sold on the commodity exchange, the farmers who did not sell products stated that they did not sell products on the commodity exchange primarily due to the large amount of deductions made in product sales. The positive opinions of the farmers about the activities of Uzunköprü Commodity Exchange were as follows: purchases were made according to quality criteria, there were buyers for all kinds of products, the electronic sales system was positive and the interest of the participants in the electronic sales hall was high, they can easily reach the exchange management when they needed, their relations with other members were at a good level, and the sale of products in the exchange contributed to their social relations. Keywords: Marketing, Commodity Exchanges, Uzunköprü Commodity Exchange, Producer Opinion