Monday, January 7, 2013

Crop Insurance Conference Set for Jan. 21 in Fargo

The latest information on crop insurance will be presented at the North Dakota State University Extension Service's 20th annual crop insurance conference in Fargo on Jan. 21.

The conference will be held at the Ramada Plaza Suites. Registration opens at
7:45 a.m. Presentations begin at 8:30 a.m. and continue until 4 p.m.

The goal of the conference is to help participants integrate crop insurance and other risk management strategies in production and marketing decisions.

The conference is for crop insurance agents, farm managers, producers, legislators, agricultural lenders, industry regulators, commodity group representatives, farm management instructors and public officials.

Conference topics and their presenters are:

* Weather outlook for 2013 -- Leon Osborne, University of North Dakota atmospheric sciences professor

* Prevented planting update -- Doug Hagel, Risk Management Agency (RMA) regional director in Billings, Mont.

* RMA update -- Michael Alston, RMA deputy administrator

* 2013 crop insurance outlook -- Rick Gibson, NAU Country Insurance business strategy consultant

* Global fundamentals to 2020: Dynamic changes in agriculture -- William Wilson, NDSU Agribusiness and Applied Economics Department professor

* Update from Washington, D.C. -- U.S. Sen. John Hoeven

* Company perspective -- Tim Weber, Great American Insurance crop division CEO

* Marketing strategies for 2013 -- Frayne Olson, NDSU Extension Service crops economist and marketing specialist

* Ethics in business -- David Horsager, Horsager Leadership Inc. CEO

The conference has been approved for continuing education credits for crop insurance and ethics in Minnesota and the Dakotas.

The registration fee is $110, which includes lunch, breaks, and conference materials. For more information or to register, call (701) 231-8642 or online at http://tinyurl.com/dxrnkh.