Wallaces Farmer

This is an opportunity for farm and other women involved in grain marketing to learn how to use tools to manage price risk.

May 18, 2012

2 Min Read

With volatile grain markets ahead, Iowa State University Extension and the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation will coordinate weekly meetings for women who want to learn more about grain marketing.

The series is called "Women Marketing Grain: Understanding Strategies & Tools." Meetings will be held on Thursday evenings over a five week period on the Ankeny Campus of Des Moines Area Community College, just north of Des Moines. The meeting site will be the FFA Enrichment Center located at 1055 SW Prairie Trail Parkway in Ankeny.

If interested in attending, please register before June 5

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Steve Johnson, ISU Extension farm and agribusiness management specialist for central Iowa, will help teach these sessions. He provides the following information and encourages you to pre-register before June 5 to assure your spot so you can attend.

The first meeting will be held Thursday, June 7, from 7 p.m. until 9:30 p.m. The registration fee is $30 per individual for all five weeks and can be paid at the first meeting. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. Please pre-register by phone prior to June 5 by calling the Polk County Extension Office at 515-957-5760. This will help with the coordination of training material, drinks and snacks.

You will gain firsthand knowledge of how to use various marketing tools

A feature of the Women Marketing Grain meetings will be participation in the 2012 Pre-Harvest Iowa Commodity Challenge; an online market simulation game. Registration for the Challenge takes place at the first meeting and trading continues until harvest. This activity allows participants firsthand knowledge about the use of futures and options contracts as risk management tools. 

Participants will be given virtual bushels (75,000 bushels of corn and 25,000 bushels of soybeans) and can use futures or options contracts for December corn or November soybean futures contracts.

The program features timely topics, practical information and knowledgeable teachers. These weekly meetings will include various crop marketing discussions led by ISU Extension farm management specialist Steve Johnson; Ed Kordick, commodity services manager for the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation; Ellen Batchhelder, Cargill Grain Merchandising; Craig Solberg, Freese-Notis Weather; and Jayme Kohake, market analyst with Paragon Investments.

For farm management information and analysis visit ISU's Ag Decision Maker site www.extension.iastate.edu/agdm and ISU Extension specialist Steve Johnson's site www.extension.iastate.edu/polk/farmmanagement.htm.

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