market information. As such, they may not fully understand the feasible alternatives to a

coyote's offer or even what the offer entails. Further, some unscrupulous coyotes on occasion

take the produce but do not pay. But it should be stressed that coyotes perform vital functions.

With better organization, education, and access to information, smaller farmers may be able to

obtain better terms from coyotes or entirely circumvent them. However, organization and

education require time and resources. Coyotes act as substitutes for these and, as such, overall

enrich small farmers.

 In contrast, the largest farmers often are big enough to perform marketing functions

themselves. For example, the larger vegetable growers in Sinaloa and other major perishables

producing areas own packing houses. These growers produce an adequate volume to justify the

expense of tracking prices in several markets. Also because they produce so much, they sell

product almost daily, and through their packing houses they may deal in the final markets. In

the process, they get better first-hand information than the smaller producers which sell less

frequently, to fewer buyers, and generally at some intermediate marketing stage. The marketing

activities of the largest of Mexico's agricultural producers are changing in parallel with

comparable producers in the United States. They use computers, cellular phones, and the other

modem telecommunications methods to get information and give instructions to their agents in

other areas. They attend trade shows in United States, follow industry practices closely, and

track consumer preferences for their commodity.

 An intermediate sized producer can't justify owning a packing shed but produces a large

enough volume to build up a continuing relationship with one or more buyers. Such growers

will often use a larger neighbor's packing shed, thereby providing the neighbor with a greater