A February 25 crop insurance workshop at Imperial will provide information on integrating management and marketing options for better risk management. It is one in a series of RAM II Workshops planned for February and March in Kansas, Nebraska, and Ohio.

"Changes in farm legislation, including the SURE and ACRE programs, expanded bio-fuels and ethanol, combined with volatile crop prices have producers considering different methods for managing yield and price risk," said Art Barnaby, agricultural economist with Kansas State University Research and Extension. "This workshop will introduce producers to an integrated marketing/production management approach that combines government programs, crop insurance and alternative marketing techniques."

Named after the Risk-Assessed Marketing (RAM) crop insurance and grain marketing programs available to producers, the workshops are called RAM II because they now include the Supplemental Revenue Assistance Program (SURE) and Average Crop Revenue Election (ACRE) programs.

The workshops are sponsored by K-State Research and Extension, the North Central Risk Management Education Center at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, and Ohio State University Extension.

Nebraska Program

The Nebraska Ram II workshop will be held from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Feb. 25 at the Imperial Public Library, 703 Broadway St.  Lunch is included, but registration is needed. To register, contact Eric Moreland, Moreland Insurance LLC, at (308) 882-5959 or ericm5000@gmail.com

Topics

• Introduction to Marketing Forward Contracts, Options, and Futures, Dan O’Brien
• SURE and ACRE Programs, Art Barnaby
• Risk-Assessed Marketing (RAM) — how it combines marketing tools, commodity program payments, and crop insurance
• Case Farm Exercise — participants study and assess options

This project uses a case study, with producers managing a typical grain farm during an upcoming marketing year, making marketing decisions using various insurance, futures, and options alternatives and eligibility requirements for the SURE and ACRE programs. Participants will have the opportunity to select type and level of crop insurance, decide on ACRE program participation, and then to work through a typical grain marketing year, with four marketing opportunities, making use of riskmanagement tools such as futures, options, forward
contracts and basis contracts.

Registration deadline is Feb. 19. For more information about the Nebraska workshop, see the program brochure or contact Ruth Gerdes at 402-274-2907 or gerdesaai@neb.rr.com. 

Kansas and Ohio Programs

• Feb. 18 - McPherson, Kan. — Dale Ladd, 620-241-1523 or dladd@ksu.edu
• Feb. 22 - Bowling Green, Ohio — Alan Sundemeier, 419-354-9050 or sundermeier.5@osu.edu
• Feb. 23 - Coshocton, Ohio — Howard Siegrist, 740-670-5315 or siegrist1@cfaes.osu.edu or Chris Zoller, 330-339-2337 or zoller.1@osu.edu
• March 2 - Beloit, Kan. — Scott Chapman, 785-738-3597 or schapman@ksu.edu
• March 4 - Goodland, Kan. — Dana Belshe, 785-890-4880 or dbelshe@ksu.edu
• March 5 - Garden City, Kan. — Dean Whitehill, 620-272-3670 or dwhitehi@ksu.edu
• March 11 - Russell, Kan. — John Stannard, 785-483-3157 or jstannar@ksu.edu

More information is also available on the Web at www.agmanager.info.