BASF hosted an educational session at the 2016 Commodity Classic on the importance of managing risk in the current economy. Four panelists, all farmers and industry professionals, gave their perspective and offered producers advice on ways to make the best of the market.
“It’s really about how we can build partnerships in our operations that reduce risk,” said BASF’s Niel Bentley in an interview following the session. “When you’re thinking about who you’re doing business with, you need to attract the right people around your business, and find the partners that help you build the best possible plan.”
Listen to my full interview with Niel here:
Interview with Niel Bentley, BASF
One panelist, Ohio farmer Walker Gottfried, discussed the value of developing strong networks while managing risk on an operation.
“Developing networks is paramount to managing risk because it gives farmers control in this economy where this is no control,” said Gottfried. “In my opinion, the most important qualities to include in your network are trust, people that will challenge your thinking, and people that are knowledgable in areas that you may not be.”
Listen to my full interview with Walker here:
Interview with Walker Gottfried, Ohio Farmer
Travis Harrison, a corn, soybean and wheat farmer from Northwest Ohio, spoke about the four ways he works to manage risk, and how he has managed to incorporate all four factors through the creation of Green Field Ag, a precision ag company with several lines of precision equipment for sale, as well as custom strip-till services.
“We try to surround ourselves with people who know more than us about certain issues,” said Harrison. “It’s always helpful to have manufacturers to listen to you, to be able to help them potentially develop new products, and I really feel that everyone needs to have a GPS guru on their farm, so its nice to have a company at our farm to help with that.”
Listen to my full interview with Travis here:
Interview with Travis Harrison, Green Field Ag
Brent Gloy, farmer, economist, and professor at Purdue University, spoke on the importance of cutting fixed costs as part of a successful risk management program, as well as his perspective on the current state of the economy.
“Its not the economic environment of 5-7 years ago, so risk management is really critical.” said Gloy. “The current mood in the industry is as negative as I’ve seen it in the past ten years, and i think it’s important to remember that this isn’t the end of the world, and we just need to go about it in a way that ensures that we’re in it for the long term future of agriculture, which, I think, remains really really bright.”
Listen to my full interview with Brent here:
Interview with Brent Gloy, Purdue University
2016 Commodity Classic Photo Album
BASF Science Behind Living Acres Photo Album
