surveys asked respondents on both sides of the border to provide current retail prices for
Acash and carry@ sales of comparable containers of each agricultural chemical.
In Alberta, the survey was administered by the Pest Risk Management Unit of the
Crop Diversification Division of Alberta Agriculture, Food and Rural Development to 14
dealerships whose collective market shares in southern Alberta were estimated to be
about 80 percent. In northern Montana, a random survey was administered by the
Montana State University Agricultural Marketing Policy Center in collaboration with the
Montana Department of Agriculture. In Montana, retailers considered likely to serve
both Alberta and Montana agricultural producers were located along or near U.S. Route
2, an east-west highway known as “the Hi-line,” that runs parallel to and about 35 miles
south of the U.S.-Canadian border. In Alberta, retailers considered likely to serve both
Montana and Alberta agricultural producers were located along or near Canada Highway
3, also an east-west highway that in Alberta runs parallel to and about 50 miles north of
the U.S. B Canadian border. 9
9
Information on dealership locations provided by the Montana Department of Agriculture indicated that
120 Montana agricultural chemical dealerships were potential outlets for agricultural producers in both
Montana and Alberta. Seventy of these retailers were randomly selected for potential inclusion in the
Montana sample and contacted by telephone to ascertain whether the business was an applicator dealing in
a very limited number of chemicals or an agricultural chemical dealer selling many of the chemicals of
concern at retail. Applicators were excluded from the survey both because of the limited number of
chemicals they handled and because many applicators only sell agricultural chemicals to agricultural
producers in combined chemical/application packages. The sample selection process was completed when
40 agricultural chemical dealers willing to respond to the survey had been identified. Each of these 40
randomly selected retailers received survey forms within two working days of being contacted. Thirty-two
usable survey forms with usable responses were returned within 14 days by these retailers, an initial
response rate of 75 percent. In Alberta, a total of 22 agricultural chemical dealers were identified as
potential retail sources of agricultural chemicals for U.S. agricultural producers. All 22 retailers were
contacted by Alberta Agriculture, Food and Rural Development and 14 responded to the survey. Alberta
Agriculture, Food and Rural Development estimated that jointly these 14 retailers represent 80 percent of
the agricultural chemical market in southern Alberta.
11