Kansas State University has provided innovative grain market risk management educational programs for many years. RAM (Risk Assessed Marketing) workshops have been conducted since 1993 to help farmers manage their crop production risk as part of pre-harvest forward pricing strategies. RAM workshops integrated crop insurance and forward pricing decisions in a simulated crop production and marketing case-study educational environment.
The RAM case farm materials were recently updated and expanded to include other crops such as cotton and canola. The "Winning the Game" workshop (Minnesota) was incorporated into the workshops.
The project team conducted 18 "Winning the Game" grain marketing workshops - focusing on major Kansas crops (corn, grain sorghum, soybeans, wheat) for both limited irrigation or non-irrigated cropping regimes. Shorter presentations were held at other in-state conferences, targeting young farmers, youth, and women in agriculture. Three additional follow-up webinars were conducted following the in-person meetings. Approximately 1,800 participants gained knowledge of crop risk management principles and tools, and were trained in how to develop marketing plans and implement risk management strategies for their farming operations.