East Central Iowa Crop Information

Welcome!

Description:

This is an electronic educational series in cooperation with Data Transmission Network of Omaha, Nebraska (also to be used on the DTN Web Site, FarmDayta system, and to be made available on CD-Rom to North Central Extension field offices). Each unit will be on DTN, FARMDAYTA, and the DTN Web site for one week. The series will be available throughout the U.S. and Canada. Information presented electronically will also be disseminated through articles in the Wallaces Homestead Publications (Wallaces Farmer, Prairie Farmer, Michigan Farmer, etc. These publications cover the entire U.S.)

Topics:

I. The new risk-management environment: changing global government policy, new private-sector tools, dramatically increased market risk by Bob Wisner & Darrel Good (Reviewers Jim Hilker and Roy Black)

II. Climatic change: its impacts on grain yield , price variability and risk management by Elwynn Taylor and Jeff Andresen

III. Financial considerations in building a profit management and risk-management plan for your farm by William Edwards and Art Barnaby (Reviewers, Hilker, Baldwin, Jerry Schwab, Chris Hurt)

IV. Analytical tools to help sort out alternatives: Probability distributions, confidence intervals, and how to use them: applications to prices and yields by Dean Baldwin and Hilker (Reviewer, Roy Black)

V. Understanding various grain contracts and the three components of price risk: price level, basis, and spreads by Baldwin and Hilker (Reviewers, Wisner & Flaskerud)

VI. Risk exposure in more complex types of contracts, and sound business practices Wisner & Good (Reviewers, Flaskerud, Baldwin, Hilker)

VII. Legal considerations in grain contracting: legality of complex contracts, and tax issues by Harl and Boley (Reviewer Roger McEowan)

VIII. Overview of Crop Insurance Alternatives by William Edwards and Art Barnaby (Reviewer, Roy Black)

IX. Crop insurance choices, yield vs. revenue insurance in a probabilistic framework: MPCI, Group Risk, CAT, MPCI + replacement coverage, CRC, IP, RA, self insurance, by Bruce Babcock and Dermot Hayes (Reviewers, Roy Black, George Patrick, Art Barnaby)

X. Linking risk-management choices to individual farm financial situations: key concepts, examples of risk-management by Phil Hufferd and Roy Black (Reviewers, Edwards, Jolly, Wisner)

XI. Yield Futures and Options as Alternative Insurance Tools by Sergio Lence and Mario Miranda (Reviewers, Hilker, Wisner, Barnaby)

XII .More on marketing to cope with price volatility: Using hedging and options in price risk management: principles, procedures, limitations

• How options markets work to establish minimum prices
• an 18-year track income track record for selected Iowa and Ohio farms, incorporating actual yield, price and basis variability.
• Managing production risk if you price before harvest:

by Wisner and Baldwin (Reviewers, Black, Hilker, Good)

XIII. Summary of Considerations in developing a risk & profit management program that fits your needs

Additional Details:

Each participant will be charged $39.95 for the series of electronic lessons; sponsors are being sought to defray these costs.

These lessons will be in considerable depth, will typically be about 12 to 14 DTN pages long, utilizing high-quality graphics, and homework assignments

A Web Site (probably at the Iowa State University Department of Economics) will be developed for supporting risk-management materials including expanded worksheets, yield, price and basis data bases, and additional supporting text material. The Web site will be used to store regionalized probability histograms of potential income from various risk-management alternatives that participants and local extension specialists can access.

An 800 telephone number will be available for participants to use to call in questions or comments about each week’s lesson.

Who’s Who:

• Andresen, Jeff: Michigan State Univ. Geography and Climatology Dept.
• Babcock, Bruce: Iowa State Univ. Dept. Of Economics
• Baldwin, Dean: Ohio State Univ. Dept. Of Ag. Econ.
• Barnaby, Art: Kansas State Univ. Dept. Of Ag. Econ.
• Black, Roy: Michigan State Univ. Dept. Of Ag. Econ.
• Bohley, Lisa: Ohio State Univ. Dept. Of Ag. Econ. (Legal Affairs)
• Edwards, William: Iowa State Univ. Dept. Of Economics
• Flaskerud, George: North Dakota State Univ. Dept. Of Ag. Econ.
• Gleim, Joe: Ohio State Univ. Depts. Of Ag.Engineering and Agricultural Education
• Hayes, Dermot: Iowa State Univ. Dept. Of Economics
• Hilker, Jim: Michigan State Univ. Dept. Of Ag. Econ.
• Hufferd, Phil: Iowa State Univ. Extension Farm Management Specialist
• Hurt, Chris: Purdue Univ. Dept. Of Ag. Econ.
• Jolly, Robert: Iowa State Univ. Dept. Of Economics
• Lence, Sergio: Iowa State Univ. Dept. Of Economics
• Miranda, Mario: Ohio State Univ. Dept. Of Ag. Econ.
• Patrick, George: Purdue Univ. Dept. Of Ag. Econ.
• Schwab, Gerald: Michigan State Univ. Dept. Of Ag. Econ.
• Taylor, Elwynn: Iowa State Univ. Dept. Of Agronomy (Climatologist)
• Wisner, Robert: Iowa State Univ. Dept. Of Economics

Sponsors:

• American Agrisurance Co.
• DTN
• Farm Foundation
• Iowa Farm Bureau Federation.
• Iowa State University
• Ohio State University
• Rain and Hail Insurance Co.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact the Iowa State University Extension Office.

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