With unpredictable crop prices and tight margins, marketing can make the difference between profit and loss in corn and soybean production. How well farmers get paid for a year’s worth of work can be wrapped up in just a few marketing decisions.
To help female commodity sellers address these issues, the Women Marketing Grain program, a four-session course to help women develop marketing plans for corn and soybeans, begins at 6 p.m. tonight in Ames.
The class will meet every Thursday through June 23 at the Des Moines Area Community College Hunziker Center, 1420 S. Bell Ave. in Ames.
“Women Marketing Grain empowers women by offering a valuable set of business-based workshops,” according to Madeline Schultz, manager of the ISU Extension and Outreach Women in Agriculture program. “The program helps participants learn ways to make a better human resource management decisions.”
Course participants will learn how to manage price risk using tools like forward contracts, futures and options contracts, alternative marketing contracts and crop insurance, Schultz said. Participants will work in a computer lab to access online decision tools and to develop a marketing plan. Women will learn market strategies and how to stay on track for long-term marketing success.
Classes are 6-9 p.m., with a free meal served at 5:30 p.m. Registration for each program is $75 and is open at the door. For more information, call 515-294-642.
Did you like this story? Please support our daily coverage of local news and sports with a one-time donation or a recurring donation of $5 per month.
