Completed Project Report


Building Market Resiliency in Iowa Through Advanced Grain Marketing Workshops for Women

  • Award Amount: $50,000
  • Regional Center: North Central Extension Risk Management Education Center
  • Grant Program: 2020 Education Projects
  • Project Director: Madeline Schultz
  • Email: schultz@iastate.edu
  • Organization: Iowa State University of Science and Technology

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Project Overview

The project team developed a new "Advanced Grain Marketing for Women" course. The course was requested by women who completed "Women Marketing Grain" courses. Participants in a focus group wanted to learn more about put and call options and access a broader range of marketing tools. The team created hands-on activities, posters, a lesson slide set, nine updated Ag Decision Maker articles (www.extension.iastate.edu/agdm), and other educational materials. We delivered one day-long (6-hour) pilot Advanced Grain Marketing Course with ten women in 2021, and one five session (10-hour) course in 2022 with 16 women. Due to the interactive nature of the course, it was only offered in-person. After participating in the course, women were able to: 1) Understand how and why options are traded for commodity grain marketing, 2) Analyze the pros and cons of marketing strategies utilizing options, and 3) Decide on an overall marketing strategy for their business that may include an options or options-backed strategy. A follow-up survey and participant interviews indicated the interactive nature of the 'Marketing with Options' simulation and other activities strongly supported learning and enhanced grain marketing plans. The new curricula is now being used by the team for additional courses. 

Number of Participants: 26

Outcomes

Project Steps

PROMOTIONAL MATERIALS

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EDUCATIONAL MATERIALS

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DELIVERY AREA

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