Top Farmer Conference: January 5, 2024

Explore key factors influencing the U.S. economy & biofuels future. Join us for a one-day conference that will stimulate your thinking about agriculture's future and how you can position your farm to be successful in the years ahead. Attend in person in West Lafayette, Indiana or join us remotely.

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risk

Evaluating Strategic Options

Sound strategic planning requires assessing strategic risk, which involves the sensitivity of a farm’s strategic direction, and the ultimate vulnerability and sustainability of the farm to uncertainties in the business climate.

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Assessing and Managing Strategic Risk

Managing both operational risk and strategic risk is important in today’s production agriculture environment.

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Leverage and Interest Rate Risk

Financial risk is incurred when a farm borrows money to purchase assets or operate the farm. Financial risk is caused by uncertainty pertaining to interest rates, lending relationships, changes in market value of assets used as collateral, and cash flow used to repay debt.

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Leverage and Financial Risk

Financial risk is incurred when a farm borrows money to purchase assets or operate the farm. Financial risk is caused by uncertainty pertaining to interest rates, lending relationships, changes in market value of assets used as collateral, and cash flow used to repay debt.

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Balancing Business and Financial Risk

Total risk can be divided into two major categories: business risk and financial risk. Business risk involves the variability of the farm’s return to assets. Business risk arises from variability in production levels (e.g., yield variability), output prices (e.g., corn price variability), and input prices (e.g., fertilizer price variability), as well as changes in legal aspects of the business and personnel.

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Managing in Turbulent Times: Positioning to Capture the Upside, Buffer the Downside

Risk dominates the farming sector, and most farmers try to reduce or manage/mitigate the risks they take. Risk is perceived by most to be “bad” – – something to be avoided.

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Risk and Uncertainty

This series of articles will provide an introduction to risk and uncertainty, and discuss tools and strategies that can be used to mitigate risk and uncertainty.

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3 Ways to Manage Risk in Your Farm Business

Most people working in agriculture are in the business of commodity. And in the long run, in a commodity business, there is one absolute key to success. It’s pretty straightforward: be a low-cost producer. It can be difficult to make it happen, but necessary, especially in today’s volatile financial climate.

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Managing Risk in Your Farm Business

Most people working in agriculture are in the business of commodities. And in the long run, in a commodity business, it’s crucial to be a low-cost producer. Here are some practical ways that you can start lowering your costs today.

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Strategies for Success in Turbulent Times: Ten Strategic Initiatives

Farm businesses are facing increasing complexity and uncertainty in today’s turbulent business climate. Farms continue to be family based businesses and are modest size compared too much of the industrial sector, but an increasing number of farms are becoming multi-million dollar gross sales businesses with a sizeable work-force and rapidly increasing financial capital and land resources.

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