About 250 farmers, farm lenders and agribusiness leaders will participate in a conference to learn more about managing their risk, without having to gather in a central location.

Iowa State’s economics department is working with the ISU Extension area farm management specialists to organize the conference: “Managing Change—Managing Risk: A Workshop for Agriculture.” Twelve sights across the state will be connected through the Iowa Communications Network on Jan. 14, 1997.

The farmer’s risk environment is changing from policy issues to weather issues, said John Miranowski, chair of the economics department. With the 1996 federal farm bill, the government farm plan is not as structured and removes the income safety net for farmers. Another example of a change in environment is the changing international trade policies and grain consumption.

Participants will gain an understanding of risk management and the strategies available to deal with it, said Phillip Baumel, professor of economics and coordinator of the conference. Tools to alleviate risk include the use of hedging, options, crop insurance and revenue insurance.

The conference will help farmers understand and develop their own risk-management plans, Baumel said.

“We think this program will change the way participants will think about risk management,” he said. “The environment is changing and risk management is becoming important to all Iowa farmers.”

This is the first time the conference has been offered, but Miranowski said there would be more conferences and follow-up activities held in the future.

The conference itself is an outreach continuation to a publication and tabloid that will be distributed in January. The format will alternate throughout the day from ISU economics professors to local speakers. The program will use teaching resources from ISU.

“It’s our opportunity to work with the people in the state to share with them the latest information in risk management in the new environment,” Miranowski said.

Miranowski said the conference has been fun to plan and will have a significant impact on farmers.

“This is a really exciting opportunity to develop materials to involve a large part of the department in what we feel is an important economic issue facing the state,” he said.

The registration is due Jan. 7 and the fee is $20, which includes the cost of lunch and support materials.