Released: February 14, 2006

Risk Assessed Marketing Workshop Slated Feb 28 in Pawnee County

MANHATTAN, Kan. – A workshop designed to introduce crop and livestock producers to an integrated production and marketing approach using crop insurance and alternative marketing strategies is slated for Feb. 28 in Larned, Kan.

The workshop, sponsored by Kansas State University Research and Extension, will be from 8:30 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. at the Pawnee County Fairgrounds’ J.A. Haas Building.

“There’s a lot of interest in looking at different ways of managing yield and price risk,” said K-State agricultural economist Art Barnaby. “What’s driving that in large part is low corn prices.”

“We hope that producers take away from this workshop a better understanding of how crop insurance, when combined with alternative marketing techniques, may reduce farm financial risk and increase income,” said Art Barnaby, who is a workshop coordinator and presenter.

"For grain and oilseed producers already using best management practices, there is more potential for profit improvement in better marketing than in better farming," said Mike Woolverton, K-State visiting professor of grain marketing. At the workshop, he will discuss a range of marketing activities, including how to locate grain deficit areas and selling opportunities, which can contribute to improved marketing margins for grain and oilseed producers.

Topics to be addressed at the workshop include various insurance instruments such as Livestock Risk Protection (LRP); Crop Revenue Insurance (CRC); Revenue Assurance (RA); Multi-Peril Crop Insurance Actual Production History (MPCI-APH); Income Protection (IP); Group Risk Plan (GRP); and Group Risk Income Protection (GRIP).

Futures, options, forward contracts, marketing loans, and basis contracts will also be covered.

Because of the “hands on” nature of the workshop, Barnaby is encouraging participants to bring a calculator and a pencil.

A sponsored, complimentary lunch will be provided. To register and ensure an accurate count for lunch, interested persons should call the Pawnee County Extension office at 620-285-6901.

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K-State Research and Extension is a short name for the Kansas State University Agricultural Experiment Station and Cooperative Extension Service, a program designed to generate and distribute useful knowledge for the well-being of Kansans. Supported by county, state, federal and private funds, the program has county Extension offices, experiment fields, area Extension offices and regional research centers statewide. Its headquarters is on the K-State campus, Manhattan.

Story by:
Mary Lou Peter-Blecha
mlpeter@oznet.ksu.edu
K-State Research& Extension News