by Mary Lou Peter
CNHI
Parson, Kansas —
Agriculture markets are sometimes described as a wild ride, and the theme for Kansas State University´s 2010 Risk and Profit Conference and Trade Show this year reflects that. "A Walk on the Wild Side: Mercurial Markets, Policy Perplexity, and Management Migraines" is set for August 19-20 at the K-State Alumni Center in Manhattan, Kansas.
Keynote speakers include Sara Wyant, president of Agri-Pulse Communications, Inc., and Jay Armstrong, a fourth-generation farmer in Atchison, Kan.
Wyant, a veteran farm policy reporter, produces the Agri-Pulse newsletter and Website that update farmers, ranchers and other agri-business professionals on the latest issues in farm policy, commodities, conservation, trade, food safety, rural development, the environment, and regulations.
In addition to being a farmer, Armstrong is the president of Armstrong Global, an importing and equipment-leasing company near Muscotah, Kan. He currently serves on the Kansas Wheat Commission, U.S. Wheat Associates Board of Directors and the Farm Foundation´s Board of Trustees. He has served on the Kansas State Board of Agriculture and the board of the Kansas State Fair.
K-State agricultural economists Glynn Tonsor and Dan O´Brien also will provide the livestock and grain outlooks (respectively) during the conference.
Participants will be able to choose from 24 breakout sessions on topics ranging from Projecting the Supply and Use of Distillers Grains to Inflation, Interest Rates, Deficits and You. Other session titles include: Cellulosic Biofuels, The Efficiency of No-Till, Understanding Credit Quality, Analyzing Calf Market Price Incentives at Video Auctions, Machinery Costs and the Efficiency of Field Size and Shape, Impacts of Animal Welfare Changes, Marketing Grain with Storage Hedges, Enhancing Competitiveness, Bubble Troubles: Asset Bubbles and Wealth, and ACRE—The Future of Farm Programs?
A complete list of presentations, plus registration information is available on the Web: www.agmanager.info/ events/risk_profit/2010. The early registration fee of $210 per person is due by August 13. The fee for additional attendees from the same business is $190. The fee, if paid after August 13 is $230.
The fee includes all sessions, four meals (two lunches, one dinner and one breakfast), the conference proceedings on CD, and conference parking. More information is available by contacting Rich Llewelyn at 785-532-1504 or rvl@ksu. edu.
