NWC News Desk

Five-part series starts Thursday, Jan. 30, looks at developing agricultural marketing plans

Posted January 17, 2014
By NWC News Desk

POWELL, Wyo. - Area farmers and ranchers, as well as future farmers and ranchers are invited to learn how to develop a comprehensive agricultural marketing plan through a five-part series of weekly classes starting Thursday, Jan. 30, in Powell.

The complimentary hour-and-a-half sessions are held on five consecutive Thursdays, each beginning at 7 p.m. at the Northwest College Center for Training and Development in Powell.

Presenters are Gary Brester, a professor in the Montana State University Department of Agricultural Economics and Economics, and Brett Crosby, president and co-owner of Custom Ag Solutions, an economic consulting firm specializing in research and outreach in the agriculture sector.

Brester, in addition to his academic credentials that include a doctorate in economics, was raised on an irrigated sugarbeet and malting barley farm near Laurel, Mont. His applied research program includes risk management, international trade, agribusiness management and farm management issues.

Crosby, a fifth-generation rancher, owns and manages a cow-calf operation in northern Wyoming. Also an experienced commodities trader, he regularly presents lectures and seminars on futures markets and risk management tools. He’s been featured in numerous trade publications and at producer meetings across the country.

Their Jan. 30 program is titled “Markets, Market Mechanics and Market Risk.” On Feb. 6, they’ll explore “Insurance as a Market Risk Management Tool” and on Feb. 13, the topic is “Forward Contracts and Futures Markets as Risk Management Tools.”

Their last two programs, presented Feb. 20 and 27, are titled (respectively) “Introduction to Market Risk Management Strategies” and “Advanced Market Risk Management Strategies.”

More detailed information about each program is available online. Questions may be emailed to Powell CTD.

Register online or call 307-754-6062 or 800-560-4692.

The “Developing a Comprehensive Agricultural Marketing Plan” series is sponsored by the Northwest College Center for Training and Development in Powell.