Participants expressed interest in forming marketing groups for further in-depth learning.
Ten of the 20 participants used cash and futures pricing tools in the subsequent cropping season.
impact statement issue
After a 2-year upturn in the grain markets fueled by the frenzy to increase the U.S.'s productive capacity to produce ethanol, grain markets dropped precipitiously by harvest time 2008. A more than $4/bu drop in corn prices in a year with ungainly input costs defined a dire market where too many farmers sold corn at prices below the cost of production.
impact statement response
Extension Specialist, Janice Degni quickly designed a workshop in 2009 to help farmers decrease business risk - specifically loss of income-thus reducing overall financial risk. Local industry experts and experienced farmers explained cash and futures pricing tools in the context of grain marketing
