Grain Marketing Webinar Series to be Offered Online
From Sam Custer
OSU Extension, Darke County

Growers, who want to experience grain marketing using real-world strategies without any of the real-world risks, can take advantage of a series of courses taught by Dr. Matt Roberts from Ohio State University’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences.

Participants will learn how to use futures and options; make a marketing plan to fit their farm business; use crop insurance as a grain marketing tool; and how to understand financial statement analysis in relationship to their grain marketing plan.

The courses, to be offered Jan. 7 and 21; Feb.4 and 18; and March 4, will be taught online and will offer participants the ability to experience grain marketing simulations using marketing options commonly used in grain marketing without the risk of actually taking a position on real bushels. The series of online courses enables farmers to log in from the comfort of their home office allowing more people access to the courses.

Using the Commodity Challenge, a program managed by the Center for Farm Financial Management at the University of Minnesota, growers will participate in a grain marketing simulation exercise that allows use of all the marketing options used in grain marketing without the risk of actually taking a position on real bushels. The online-trading simulation features real-time cash, futures and options quotes for corn, soybeans and wheat from local markets here in Ohio. Participants can use basis contracts, puts, calls, and can sell cash on the market, basically all of the tools we have in real life without any of the real risk of marketing real bushels.

The workshops are from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., with each course building on information taught in the previous course. Participants missing a session will have the opportunity to view a recording of the webinar if they want to learn the information. Registration for the online classes is $135, but each participant can earn part or all of the cost back through their participation in the course.

Part of each participant’s registration costs will be placed in a pool that will be distributed back to participants based on how well they market their grain in the commodity challenge. Those who sell their challenge grain for the average of all course participants will earn a refund of $100 from their registration fee. Those who do above the course average will earn more than $100 and those who do less than the course average will receive less than $100. The refund is an incentive to give participants a reason to do as well as they can in the commodity challenge.

Additionally, participants will want to check with their local Extension office to see if supplemental meetings will be held. Some ANR Educators will be meeting with participants in supplemental meeting to further enhance the grain marketing course and assist with questions participants might have.

Registration can be found at https://www.regonline.com/grainmarketing. There is a $25 non-refundable service fee for cancellations. For more information about the program, contact Bruynis at bruynis.1@osu.edu or 740-702-3200.

For more information about OSU Extension, Darke County, visit the Darke County OSU Extension web site at www.darke.osu.edu, the OSU Extension Darke County Facebook page or contact Sam Custer, at 937.548.5215.

Download the flyer here