IdahoAgBiz Educating Farmers, Providing Insight

Farming is challenging, as is the business of selling those products.

In an effort to help producers budget and get the best bang for their buck, the University of Idaho has a resource dedicated exclusively to the world of Agricultural economics. IdahoAgBiz Director Norm Ruhoff, said the site was designed to be the premiere regional resource for farm and risk management tools, built on work done by the school’s Extension Farm Management Team. Ruhoff said the IdahoAgBiz is all about educating and providing resources for Idaho stakeholders involved in Ag production.

“This team in particular has been known over the course of time enterprise budgets, and these are really a primary tool for helping producers determine their cost of production, which is really a key component in determining a risk management strategy.”

Ruhoff said while maintained by the University of Idaho, the information is beneficial for growers across the Northwest.

“So, in the Pacific Northwest in particular, wheat for example, we’re known for growing white wheat in Washington, Idaho and Oregon.  And a large part of our resources are committed to marketing information for Pacific Northwest White Wheat.  And you can extend that to both livestock and dairy markets as well, we all trade generally into the same central markets.”

He noted when farmers log on to the website, they can select a region specific crop enterprise button; allowing for the determination of production. Then from there, growers have a host of options to help them decide what’s best for their specific operation.

“So you can use the resources on IdahoAgBiz to track commodity prices, maybe learn a new marketing strategy such as hedging, or maybe using options for a minimum price contract.  Explore those particular alternatives and use that in conjunction with your usual marketing channels to establish a profitable price for your operation.”

Click Here to learn more about IdahoAgBiz.

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