New York State Agriculture Commissioner Patrick Hooker today announced a workshop designed to enhance farmers’ grain marketing skills.  “Winning the Game:  The Post-Harvest Marketing Challenge” is a workshop tailored for New York State growers that will focus on post-harvest crop storage decisions and will offer practical, easy-to-execute advice to help farmers secure a good average price for their crop.  The workshop will be offered at four locations throughout the State in late July.

“To store or not to store?  That’s the big question for most grain growers when weighing the options of marketing their product,” the Commissioner said, “In order to help farmers put together a successful marketing plan, the Department is offering these well-known workshops to help our farmers evaluate the post-harvest marketing landscape so they can size-up grain storage opportunities with greater confidence.  If you are in the grain business, this is a workshop you won’t want to miss.”

Workshop presenter, John Berry, an agricultural marketing educator of Penn State Cooperative Extension, said, “Farmers go to great lengths developing production plans for their crops, but they rarely plan how to get a good price for the resulting grain.  In this workshop, we give farmers an opportunity to develop a marketing plan and practice its implementation using actual daily market prices.  August is the time to decide what to do with uncommitted grain in the field.”

Developed by the University of Minnesota’s Center for Farm Financial Management, the workshops simulate real-life grain-marketing decisions, enabling farmers to practice marketing without the risk of losing actual money.  During the program, participants will write their own post-harvest plan and practice exit strategies using actual market prices.  In doing so, participants will gain a greater understanding of seasonal corn, soybean and spring wheat prices, learn how to use storage as part of their grain-marketing strategies, and develop a grain-marketing plan for their own farm.

“Winning the Game” workshops will run from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at four different locations around the State, and cost $20, which includes lunch.  Pre-registration is required as seating is limited.  The workshop is sponsored by the New York Department of Agriculture and Markets and the USDA Risk Management Agency.

Following are the dates and locations for the workshops. 

July 26, 2010 in Richfield Springs

Tally-Ho Restaurant, 156 East Main Street, Richfield Springs, New York

RSVP to:  Rachel Shaver at 315-866-7920 or rjs86@cornell.edu

For more information:  Contact Kevin Ganoe at 315-866-7920 or khg2@cornell.edu

 

July 27, 2010 in Batavia

Genesee County Cornell Cooperative Extension, 420 East Main Street, Batavia, New York
RSVP to: Cathy Wallace at 585-343-3040 x138 or cfw6@cornell.edu

For more information:  Contact Jim Grace at 607-664-2316 or jwg8@cornell.edu

 

July 28, 2010 in Geneva

Jordan Hall, 630 North Street, Geneva, New York

RSVP to:  Cathy Wallace at 585-343-3040 x138 or cfw6@cornell.edu

For more information:  Contact John Hanchar at 585-658-3250, jjh6@cornell.edu

 

July 29, 2010 in Cortland

New York State Grange, 100 Grange Place, Cortland, New York
RSVP to:  Sharon VanDeuson at 607-753-5078 or shv7@cornell.edu

For more information:  Contact Fay Benson at 607-753-5213 or afb3@cornell.edu