Stress testing describes a range of techniques that can be used to access the vulnerability of a firm’s balance sheet and income statement to changes in prices, production, or financing. Stress testing can be an extremely useful tool when evaluating strategies for dealing with lower prices, higher costs, asset purchases, and changes in loan terms.

The Purdue Crop Cost and Return Guide offers farmers a resource to project financials for the coming cropping year. These are the March 2016 crop budget estimations.

Recorded March 1, 2016 | A review of the 2016 crop insurance alternatives and provide suggestions with respect to crop insurance selections that farmers should consider using in 2016.​

Nothing like record cattle prices and profitability to get an industry excited about expansion. The latest USDA Cattle report shows a rapid expansion is underway with cattle and calf numbers up three percent and beef cow numbers up four percent in the past year.

The outlook for the pork industry has turned somewhat more optimistic in recent weeks. The sources of that optimism include a $2 to $4 increase in spring and summer lean hog futures prices since the first of the year and slightly lower new-crop soybean meal prices. A bit higher hog prices and a little lower cost add to the potential for a profitable year.

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.

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.

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.

Recorded February 1, 2016 | A discussion on research based fertilizer ane seeding rate recommendations to reduce corn production costs.

Mike Boehlje presents his Distinguished Professor Seminar on the Purdue campus. Mike discusses the downturn in the U.S. agriculture sector, applied research he has conducted with Purdue colleagues related to this topic and programming provided by Purdue.​

Pork producers in 2016 are expected to experience another year of tight margins similar to the year just completed. Pork production is expected to rise by about one percent, but beef production will rise by four percent and poultry by about three percent.

A glance at a chart of commodity prices over say 100 or more years reveals periods of surging prices followed by a period of moderation in prices. Once prices moderate, they may stay relatively low for an extended time. Some have observed that this total cycle may be around 30 years, with the boom-moderation phase lasting 12 to 15 years.

Recorded December 18, 2015 | A demonstration of use of a cash rent spreadsheet tool to calculate breakeven cash rents, compare the breakeven cash rent to local market rents, compute the market rate premium (if any) above the breakeven rate and the impact paying premiums could have on a farm’s liquidity over the course of the next five years.