Grain profit margins have been thin to negative since 2014 and managers need help in using risk management tools to protect their margins and preserve working capital. Nine full-day risk management workshops for crop producers were delivered in January-March 2016 across Western Kentucky. Farmers, agricultural lenders, ANR agents and crop insurance agents received an update on grain market fundamentals, costs of production and break-even analysis, working capital burn-rate, crop insurance, price risk management alternatives, and developing a 2016 risk management plan. Jonathan Shepherd was a co-presenter in this program and assisted in developing the case farm used in these workshops. 

Farmer feedback was appreciative of the timely and honest information regarding the profitability and financial outlook for Western Kentucky grain farms. Daviess County ANR agent Clint Hardy said: “The timing of these workshops is dialed in and a reflection that Todd and Jonathan are on top of the economic issues facing our farmers.” Charles Flowers, ANR Agent Carlisle County commented, “The information presented will benefit the farming operations in Carlisle County. Grain farmers not making critical decisions in marketing could face some lean times with cash flow in the year to come.” 

The evaluation of the 128 farmers from the nine workshops rated the following presentations in the written meeting evaluations as: Commodity market outlook (Davis): 91% Useful; Working capital erosion (Shepherd / Davis): 95% Useful; Crop insurance update (Davis): 90% Useful; Price risk management tools (Davis): 88% Useful; Developing a 2016 risk management plan (Davis): 89% Useful; and Overall workshop evaluation: 95% Useful. 

The case farms developed in these workshops provided the starting point for two articles published in the Journal of the ASFMRA and an article published in the Journal of Extension.