Archive: 2001 Farm Income

An extended period of low commodity prices, the writing of a new farm bill, new developments in biotechnology, and an uncertain economic outlook provide ample challenges for the farm business manager and farm related businesses. University of Illinois Extension and the Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics will be conducting three workshops in December 2001 to address some of these challenges for the year ahead.

The workshops will include five breakout sessions on topics crucial to the success of a farm business. The “Traits of Successful Farming” is designed to help improve a farm’s profitability by showing factors separating more profitable from less profitable farms. The “Machinery” session shows tools for evaluating machinery performance on grain farms. The “Marketing” session focuses on helping producers to better understand marketing performance track records, the construction of market benchmarks and how new generation contracts might fit in a marketing plan. The “Ag Law” session includes a discussion of new developments, particularly in the areas of biotechnology, the landlord’s lien, and elevator insolvency. The “Crop Insurance” session presents the concepts, tools and guidelines necessary for making an informed decision on crop insurance.