13th annual agricultural economics conference set for Nov. 1

From MSU News Service

BOZEMAN — The Montana State University Department of Agricultural Economics and Economics and MSU Extension will host the 13th annual agricultural economics conference, “Managing Risk and Uncertainty in Agriculture” Friday, Nov. 1.

The conference is part of the College of Agriculture’s annual Celebrate Agriculture weekend, which honors the state and university’s joint agricultural legacy and celebrates current students, alumni and MSU’s extended agricultural community across Montana.

Registration will begin at 8:30 a.m. in the Procrastinator Theater in the Strand Union Building, and the conference will run from 9 a.m. to 3:15 p.m.

The conference will feature MSU agricultural economics and MSU Extension faculty speakers on issues of interest to Montana’s agricultural industry. Presentation topics will include economic trends in grain markets, crop insurance, the USDA Market Facilitation Program, the fate of lands formerly in the Conservation Reserve Program and the economic impact of agriculture in Montana.  

The annual conference is an opportunity for university economists to share and discuss current topics with Montana’s agricultural community, said Joel Schumacher, an MSU Extension associate specialist who will speak at the event.

“Events like this are an example of how land-grant universities create connections between off-campus stakeholders and MSU faculty,” Schumacher said. “Every year this event shares information and builds relationships across the state.”

This year’s M.L. Wilson Lecture will be given by Barry Goodwin, professor and head of North Carolina State University’s Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, where his research relates to risk management, international trade, agricultural policy and price analysis. The talk is titled “What is Yield Risk and How Do We Measure It?”

Additional conference speakers include MSU faculty Kate Fuller, who will present the 2019 Montana agricultural year in review; Eric Belasco, who will discuss the economics underlying crop insurance decisions; and Anton Bekkerman, who will discuss the untold story of trade impacts on agriculture. The cost of conference registration is $20 and includes a hosted lunch. Register by phone at 406-994-3511 or online at www.ampc.montana.edu/fallconference/.  More information on the Celebrate Agriculture weekend and a full schedule of events can be found at www.agriculture.montana.edu/celebrateag.