Purdue University’s 42nd annual Top Farmer Crop Workshop, designed to help farmers financially position their operation, assess new technologies and network with other farmers, agribusiness leaders, and university experts, is scheduled for July 19-22.
“Since the last year, we’ve experienced a financial crisis that’s shocked the world economy, unparalleled swings of input costs and market prices, the failure of several iconic companies and tremendous government spending,” said Bruce Erickson, director of Purdue’s Cropping Systems Management and workshop coordinator. “The sessions that are lined up deal specifically with management issues related to these events and will help farmers capitalize on opportunities and weather the storm.”
The workshop, which begins at 6:30 p.m. July 19 and ends at noon July 22, will be held in the Pfendler Hall Deans Auditorium (Room 241), located on the south side of State Street on Purdue’s West Lafayette campus. A complete schedule with session listings is available at http://www.agecon.purdue.edu/topfarmer/conference2009.asp .
Individuals can register online at http://www.conf.purdue.edu/TOPCROP or by calling Tom Robertson at 765-494-7220. Registration cost is $300 for the first representative from a farm and $100 for each additional attendee from the same farm. Registration includes two meals, coffee breaks, workshop proceedings and the opportunity to test farm plans using the B-21 linear programming analysis. First-time workshop participants will receive a $100 discount when they register for the full conference by using the discount code “TCFIRST.” Individuals may also register on-site.
Of the 45 scheduled sessions for this year’s Top Farmer Crop Workshop, a few include:
* “Ten Best Business Management Practices” by Danny Klinefelter, professor and director of The Executive Program for Agriculture Producers at Texas A&M University. Klinefelter will discuss things that any producer can do, but 95 percent don’t do, to get an edge on the industry.
* “Post-Crisis Credit Update” by Cary Mawbey, a senior commercial lender with First Farmers Bank & Trust in Kokomo, Ind. From a large producer-oriented bank, Mawbey will highlight lending issues that may affect producers in this post-crisis business world.
* “Advancements In Aerial Imagery” by Jeff Imel with Air Robotics LLC. Imel will display his technology, which could help drive the adoption of aerial imagery by farmers. It includes on-board GPS guidance, longer flight times and higher resolution imagery that can be delivered in real-time to drive crop management decisions.
* “The Growing Future for Seed Treatments” by Mike Reed and Ray Knake of Bayer CropScience. Together, they’ll talk about why crop protection companies are investing so heavily in this area and what might be in store for the future.
* Cellulosic Harvest Options Down on the Farm” by Dan Davidson, a Nebraska farmer and DTN staff agronomist. Davidson will share the challenges he’s run into and what he’s learned about harvesting corn cobs.
* “Managing Soft Assets During Hard Times” by Bernie Erven, retired agriculture economist from Ohio State University. Erven will emphasize the importance of building up soft assets (such as human capital, connections and reputation), even though land, machinery and building value has weakened during the last year.
“The Top Farmer Crop Workshop is one of the few programs geared specifically for farmers,” Erickson said. “Farming has never been an easy business, and it’s certainly not getting any easier. This workshop will help farmers manage their risks, market their crops, assess new technologies and network with others who face similar challenges.”
Information about lodging and parking, as well as a campus map is available at http://www.agecon.purdue.edu/topfarmer/conference_info.asp . For questions and additional information, visit http://www.agecon.purdue.edu/topfarmer/conference.asp or contact Erickson at 765-494-9557 or berickso@purdue.edu .
Purdue Extension and the Department of Agricultural Economics host the Top Farmer Crop Workshop. Sponsors include Farm Works, Farm Credit Services of Mid-America and Top Producer magazine.
Source : Purdue University