CropInsurance TODAY
Helping Farmers and Ranchers:
Developing Risk
Management Plans
By Dr. Laurence M. Crane, NCIS
This article summarizes the activities of an
RMA funded Competitive Cooperative Partnership Agreement awarded to NCIS as part
of the Risk Management Education and Out-
reach Partnerships Program. NCIS delivered
this education program last year in cooperation with the University of Arkansas at Pine
Bluff, and Alcorn State University, Mississippi. The objective of this educational activity
was to help African American farmers and
ranchers in Arkansas and Mississippi develop
risk management plans for their farms. This
training consisted of a series of three sequential workshops in each state and sixty hours
of individualized instruction and homework
assignments.
Project Overview
Risk management planning continues to
be a timely topic as farmers face historically
high input and energy costs, fewer off-farm
employment opportunities, and increased
financial and marketing risks. The goal of
this project was to assist Limited Resource
and African American producers of Specialty Crops and Underserved Commodities
in Arkansas and Mississippi in responding
to risk in the five special emphasis areas of
production (crop and livestock insurance),
marketing (strategies and farmers markets),
financial (farm management strategies), legal
(liabilities and estate planning), and human
resource (labor) management. Individualized
risk management responses were formulated
using the business planning approach.
An applied education program consisting
of six workshops and individualized counseling was developed and conducted via a
Dr. Laurence Crane with the farmers and ranchers who attended the workshops in Pine Bluff coordinated by the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff.
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NOVEMBER2013
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Crop Insurance Today November 2013