December 28, 2022

Production Risk Management & Contingency Planning

In this second episode of a new series on Farm Risk Management, Jenna Nees, Ed Farris, and Michael Langemeier join Brady Brewer to discuss contingency planning for production risk. Minimizing risk through management practices, reducing production variability, and managing ways to transfer some of the production risk should be reevaluated every year. Implementing diversification, flexibility, vertical integration, and new technology while managing costs can help migrate risk for farms and agribusiness’. Having a written contract in place for production and marketing as well as carrying insurance are important strategies to transfer risk to a third party.

A Production Risk Checklist pdf can be found below.

Additional Resources:

Human Resource Checklist

 

This series is based on the Six Pillars of Farm Risk Management course, funded by the North Central Extension Risk Management Education Center. More information on contingency planning is on the Purdue Institute for Family Business’ website, https://purdue.ag/fambiz, under the Strategic Business Planning Focus Area tab.

TAGS:

TEAM LINKS:

RELATED RESOURCES

Contingency Planning with Cash Flow Shortages

June 4, 2026

A contingency plan is a course of action designed to help a business determine how to respond to possible future events. Contingency plans are often referred to as “Plan B”. One of the most common contingency plans used by a business, particularly a small business, relates to how to respond to the departure or absence of key personnel. Contingency plans relating to how to respond to changes in projected cash flow are also important. Given the recent increase in input prices for fertilizer and fuel and wide variability in expected prices, it would be prudent for a farm to examine the sensitivity of their cash flow and repayment capacity to changes in crop prices. This article illustrates the use of contingency plans for a case farm in southwest Indiana.

READ MORE

Financial Stress, Labor Decisions, and Farm Resilience: Tools to Evaluate Your Operation

January 29, 2026

Adding a family member or employee to a farm is a long-term financial decision. These slides and self-assessment tools help evaluate financial feasibility, strategic risk, and business resilience before expanding labor.

READ MORE

Financial Stress on Crop Farms: Who Is Most at Risk in the 2024–26 Downturn?

September 3, 2025

Midwest crop producers have experienced a significant downturn in corn, soybean, and wheat prices since late 2023, resulting in a drop in net returns in 2024. Moreover, current expectations are that prices will continue to remain at or below the cost of production for at least a couple more years. Consequently, a key question being asked is as follows: “Who is the most vulnerable financially during this downturn”?

READ MORE

UPCOMING EVENTS

We are taking a short break, but please plan to join us at one of our future programs that is a little farther in the future.