Training Kentucky Farmers How to Implement an Integrated Crop Insurance, Price, and Farm Program Risk Management Plan

Twelve multi-county workshops will provide detailed crop insurance and price risk management education so Kentucky farmers can analyze and implement a risk management program. Example grain farms will actively engage farmers as they analyze and decide how to combine pre-harvest tools with crop insurance for the example farms. Eighteen monthly webinars broadcast across Kentucky identifies and updates current price risk management opportunities. Nine follow-up multi-county meetings provide an update on risk management plans before harvest, evaluation of managing price risk for stored grains, and a discussion of questions producers have that did not surface during the workshops. This program targets traditional farmers, new and beginning farmers, women farmers, and farmers that are transitioning out of tobacco to grain crops. The first goal is to address all of the “Crop Insurance 101” questions that exist with insurance. An emphasis is placed on Whole Farm Revenue Protection and Supplemental Coverage Option insurance policies as both are lowly adopted in Kentucky. The second goal is to help farmers understand price risk management. Farmers will analyze and implement hedging, put options, and cash-forward contracts to manage pre-harvest price risk for the example farms. The overall objective is for farmers to implement a risk management plan that best protects revenue and working capital given each farm’s financial position and ability to accept risk. At the end of this project, farmers will be able to analyze the effect of production, price, and financial risks on their business’s profitability and cash flow. Farmers will also be able to implement a risk management plan that mitigates these risks.