Mike Roberts

1
3rd Virginia Regional Market Analysis and Outlook
utilizing the Internet as an Interactive Delivery
System

• Mike Roberts
• Commodity Marketing Extension Agent, Virginia
• Farm Business Management Extension Agent,
  Southeast Virginia

Prince George County Extension Office P.O. Box
68, 6450 Administration Drive Prince George, VA
23875 804-733-2686 804-733-2676 fax
804-720-1993 cell mrob_at_vt.edu
2
Change is inevitable Except from a vending
machine Ron Plain
Whether it is good or bad depends upon your
perspective
3
Funding

• Project funding sponsor
• This material is based upon work supported by
  USDA/CSREES under Award Number 2007-49200-03891

4
Why?

• Decreasing land grant budgets
• Decreasing number of specialists field faculty
• Changing extension audiences and delivery
  tools/methods
• Expanded role of field extension faculty
• Changing teaching/research extension
  requirements
• Risk Management more important now than ever
  before

5
Project Time Frame

• Pilot project 2006 - 1,000.00
• Outlook 2007/08 - 40,000.00
• Outlook 2008/09 - 50,000.00
• Outlook and County Meetings 2009/10
• 44,000.00

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Project Summary

• Partnered with
• Community Colleges of Virginia and VDOT
• 14 U.S. Land Grants Universidad Catolica, BA,
  SA
• 37 Specialists
• US State Department - US Consulate, Buenos
  Aires, SA
• CME Group, CBOT, eHedger, LLC, DTN
• Farm Credit / Farm Bureau
• Other Ag. influencers Elevator operators, input
  dealers, etc.

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Project Summary

• Presented Risk Management Information and
  measured impacts via
• The Internet
• PolyCom and Tannberg
• Telephone lines for slower hookups
• Presentations fully interactive
• On-site presentations
• Impact measurement Focus groups, pre-post test,
  internet survey (survey monkey), personal follow
  up

8
Project Summary

• The program was developed from pilot project.
• Presenters were recruited and trained A MUST!
• IT training A MUST!
• Seminar sites were identified
• 07/08 projects - web site developed to market
  the seminars, allow web based registration, post
  presenter bios, and meeting proceedings
• 08/09 Project marketing personal contact,
  mailings, brochures, news media, word of mouth
• Utilized community college network and marketing
  channels
• Ag. Influencer support promoted project
• Local Extension Agent buy in POSITIVELY a MUST!

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Project Summary

• Participant Targets
• Extension Agents, Producers, Processors,
  Lenders, Vendors, Decision Makers, and any other
  Ag. Influencer that could be identified.
• 500 producers, 200 extension educators, 100
  community influencers, 50 Small or limited
  resource farmers
• Sequential learners 750.
• Project Goals
• Present information that helps participants make
  better decisions
• Target different geographic regions
• Small farmers and lifestyle farmers
• Enlist new collaborators
• Make best and highest use of Extension
  educational resources

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Project Summary

• Producer Learning Objectives
• Understand futures and risk management tools
• Understand economic outlook sectors affecting
  participants
• Understand where to find more marketing resources
• Be able to anticipate market movement and make
  profitable decisions
• Learn about the futures market and other risk
  management tools and how to use them to increase
  farm-gate profits.
• Extension Agent Learning Objectives
• Acquire a broader, up-to-date knowledge of
  commodity market outlook
• Enable them to pass along information to
  Extension clients
• Gain a broader knowledge of
• Risk management tools
• Current market and Economic conditions

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Project Summary

• Ag. Influencer Objectives
• Learn most up-to-date economic and market outlook
• Use that information to maximize customer service
  to clients
• Be better equipped to help clients maximize
  profits
• Familiarize them with Outlook project mission,
  vision, and potential for future projects
• Enlist them as collaborators in order to reach
  more participants in future project years
• Project development Objectives
• Show that this type of project would leverage
  already limited human and fiscal Extension
  program delivery resources
• Demonstrate the need for this type of program to
  the delineated program participants,
  collaborators, potential funders, and extension
  administration
• Show that this type of educational program could
  be developed and expanded in future years with
  success

12
Project Results

• Pilot meeting showed a clear need for a good
  on-site/remote speaker mix.

13
Interacting with Matias Nardi of Buenos Aires, SA
and Dr. Delton Gerloff, UT
Dr. David Anderson TAMU Cattle
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Different room Set ups
Dr. Ron Plain - Cattle
Dr. Don Shurley - Cotton
Dr. Emmit Rawles - Cattle
Dr. Gregg Ibendahl - Inputs
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Congressman Bob Goodlatte On-site Farm Bill
Outlook presentation.
Professor James Pease On-site Farm Bill Outlook
presentation.
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Small Farmer / Lender Collaboration Meeting,
Virginia State University
17
Small Farmer / Lender Collaboration Meeting,
Virginia State University
18
FARM 101 Cattle Producer Marketing Class
Futures, Assumptions, Risk, and Marketing
Dan Gramza CME Group, Chicago
Explaining Candlestick Charts and trading
strategies.
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Good view of room and what Ron Plain saw on his
end.
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FARM 101 Cattle Producer Marketing Class
Students had homework and old fashioned handouts
to aid distance presenters
6 classes involved over 270 participants
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Impacts

• IMPACT STATEMENT to Date
• 859 producers, 271 Extension agents, 353
  agriculture community influencers, and 1,891
  extended learners.
• By respective year
• 2006 Pilot 49 producers, 7 Extension agents, and
  23 ag. influencers participated
• 2007 146 producers, 57 Extension agents, and 94
  ag. influencers participated
• 2008 272 producers, 79 Extension agents, and 139
  ag. influencers participated.
• 2009 392 producers, 128 Extension agents, and 97
  ag. influencers

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Impacts

• Increased Aggregate net profits in the amount of
  2,063,761.50 to date
• 2006 39,500.00 was made in additional profits
• 2007 638,116.50 was added to the bottom line
  due to 365,107.50 in additional revenue and
  273,009.00 in input savings
• 2008 899,085.00 / 456,055.00 in nitrogen
  savings 443,030.00 additional revenues from
  forward commodity sales and hedging activities.
• 2009 487,060.00 / 135,013.00 in input
  savings 352,047.00 in risk management
  strategies.
• Savings in speaker travel costs 166,904.00
• 2006 4,005.00 / 2007 27,575.00 / 2008
  36,825.00 / 2009 98,500.00

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Project Results

• Producers
• 99 (2) of participants said they had a
  better-to-much-better understanding of the
  current local, regional, and world market outlook
  for their relative commodity group or business
  interest
• 100 said they where better able to find more
  marketing resources
• 86 (5) said they would be better able to
  anticipate market movement and make profitable
  decisions
• 95 (4) said they gained a better understanding
  of how to use the futures market and other risk
  management tools

24
Project Results

• Extension Agents
• 96 (7) acquired more up-to-date knowledge of
  commodity market outlook
• 87 (11) said they were more comfortable
  passing along marketing and outlook information
  learned in the seminars to clients.
• 93 (2) said they gained a broader knowledge of
  risk management tools and current market
  strategies
• 95 (66) said they would help support another
  project via a more active role in advertising and
  encouraging clientele to attend. (Only 21 said
  they would support future work after year 1).

25
Project Results

• Ag. Influencers
• 100 Learn most up-to-date economic and market
  outlook
• 100 said information presented in seminars would
  allow them to better serve their clients and help
  them maximize profits
• 100 fully endorsed the current Outlook project
  and expressed a willingness to participate more
  pro-actively in future projects
• Unexpected
• Producer collaboration on selling truckload lots
• Producer networking on input buying
• Producers and brokers collaborated on hedging
• Lenders and producers collaborating on retained
  ownership and feedlot cattle
• One Extension audience consisted of 43 South
  American cattle producers in Buenos Aires, SA
• I have been invited to collaborate in 3 countries
  this summer to develop this technology for
  several firms

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Lessons Learned in over 4 years

• Must have local Extension agent support
• Must have help in promoting program (letters,
  web, personal contact, etc.)
• Must give participants something worth their
  while besides supper (ie. Must realize their
  time is valuable!)
• If you do, they will even pay to attend
• Old Extension program model still viable Give
  them a How To segment combined with a Risk
  Management segment
• People still want the Land Grant UNBIASED
  opinion and research

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Lessons Learned in over 4 years

• Must have TWO-WAY speaker and participant
  interaction
• Technology is simple, flexible, and can maximize
  limited fiscal and physical resources if Program
  Producer does homework and puts effort into it
• This can be a new Extension paradigm and way to
  reach world-wide audiences in real time
• The Extension Hey-Day of the 60s and 70s is
  over. Audiences are more Techno-Savvy and will
  use technology to get information whether
  Extension provides it or not
• If Extension and the Land Grants dont come into
  the 21st Century they will be replaced with paid
  consultants who are already doing this by the
  bucket loads

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Questions
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Virginia Regional Market Analysis and Outlook
utilizing the Internet as an Interactive Delivery
System

• Mike Roberts
• Commodity Marketing Extension Agent, Virginia
• Farm Business Management Extension Agent,
  Southeast Virginia

Prince George County Extension Office P.O. Box
68, 6450 Administration Drive Prince George, VA
23875 804-733-2686 804-733-2676 fax
804-720-1993 cell mrob_at_vt.edu