A two-day short course, “Selecting, Developing and Working a Marketing Plan,” will be held Feb. 8-9 at the Texas AgriLife Research and Extension Center in Amarillo, located at 6500 W. Amarillo Blvd.

The focus of the course, taught by Alan Brugler, president of Brugler Marketing and Management LLC headquartered in Omaha, Neb., is learning how to select an appropriate marketing plan for an individual operation and guidelines for executing the plan.

Brugler will discuss different types of marketing plans, the drawbacks of each, and how to set the rules on when to abandon or modify the plan. This involves a combination of time and price-based targets, seasonals, probability and charts, among other things, said Dr. Steve Amosson, AgriLife Extension economist in Amarillo.

During the course, he will also talk about how to interpret Commodities Futures Trade Commission data, the role of index funds and swaps dealers in the markets today and how to identify their footprints.

“Alan is a very popular speaker on the Master Marketer program and brings in a world of experience. He was director of market analysis for DTN and is a regular guest on the U.S. Farm Report,” Amosson said.

The course runs from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. both days. The registration fee is $125 and includes the cost of instruction, materials, lunch and breaks. Registration is limited to 50 participants on a first-come basis, so preregistration is required, he said.

“This is a great opportunity to gain some market insights from a nationally known expert,” Amosson said. “Producers spend a lot of time planning and growing the crop; why not invest some time to figure out how to sell it?”

For more information and the registration brochure, go to the Master Marketer Web site, http://mastermarketer.tamu.edu or contact Jane Planchon at 806-677-5600 or [email protected].

Checks and money orders should be made payable to Texas AgriLife Account #222100-60021 and sent to Texas AgriLife Research and Extension Center, attn: Jane Planchon, 6500 W. Amarillo Blvd., Amarillo, Texas 79106-1796. For credit card payments, go online to register at http://agrilifevents.tamu.edu.