Sites and contacts Beatrice Tuesday, January 30 Gage County Extension Office 1115 West Scott Contact: Paul Hay Phone: (402) 223-1384 Email: phay1@unl.edu Norfolk Wednesday, January 31 Life Long Learning Center 601 East Benjamin Avenue Contact: Tim Lemmons Phone: (402) 370-4040 Email:tlemmons2@unl.edu Sidney Thursday, February 1 Holiday Inn, 664 Chase Blvd Contact: Karen DeBoer Cheyenne County Extension Office Phone: (308) 254-4455 Email: kdeboer1@unl.edu Kearney Friday, February 2 Buffalo County Extension Office 1400 E. 34th Street (Fairgrounds) Contact: Brent Plugge Phone: (308) 236-1235 Email: bplugge1@unl.edu

The morning session will cover issues related to livestock, crops and ag policy for the 2007 production season.

Darrell Mark, livestock marketing specialist, will present the livestock outlook and focus on market prices, production economics and risk management decisions. Of particular note is the impact of grain market demand on livestock profitability and the role of new risk management tools for livestock production and profitability.

Matt Stockton, extension ag economist, and Paul Burgener, ag economics research analyst, will provide the crop outlook, focusing on market prices, production economics and risk management decisions. With the recent movement of grain and oilseed prices and the continuing higher energy costs, balancing price expectations, production costs, cropping decisions and risk management strategies is critical to the operation.

Brad Lubben, extension poplicy specialist, will discuss the current farm income and policy outlook for producers. Farm income is one of four drivers setting the stage for the development of the new farm bill, along with the federal budget situation, the trade arena and the political setting. How these factors will affect major policy alternatives available is a critical part of the policy environment in 2007.

The afternoon session will focus on bioenergy and Nebraska agriculture. Titled "Food, Feed, Fuel and Farms: Agriculture's Role and Response to Bioenergy Sector Developments," the session will cover the current status of bioenergy sector developments, the impacts on the grain and livestock production sectors, and the policy issues affecting agriculture's response to the new developments.

Richard Perrin and Dennis Conley, both UNL professors of agricultural economics, will discuss the general bioenergy sector outlook and the resulting impact on crop production economics. Assessing the current and future industry will help producers understand the potential bioenergy opportunities before them. The analysis of the bioenergy sector leads directly to an assessment of the crop production sector and the impact of bioenergy developments on crop price and production patterns, particularly for corn.

Mark and Al Prosch, Pork Central educator, will discuss how bioenergy affects livestock production. While bioenergy production will compete with the livestock sector for feedstocks, it also will provide new opportunities for utilization of bioenergy co-products in livestock production. Balancing these competing economic factors and managing related environmental issues is important to management’s response.

David Aiken, extension water law specialist, and Lubben will carry the discussion of bioenergy developments and livestock sector impacts to the level of structural issues and policy implications. How the economics of bioenergy production and related livestock production play out will in part be affected by potential changes in state regulations of corporate agriculture, local planning and zoning guidelines, and also environmental regulations and siting requirements.

The conference also will be a forum to highlight the Department of Agricultural Economics work and its opportunities for college students to work on agricultural issues affecting Nebraska producers.

To register