Conferences
Educating Beginning Farmers to Manage Marketing, Financial, and Production Risk
Kofi Britwum and Nate Bruce
Summary
Beginning farmers face heightened exposure to marketing, financial, and production risk due to limited experience, capital constraints, and rapidly changing market conditions. To address these challenges, a beginning farmer education program was designed to strengthen risk management capacity through practical, applied instruction.
With USDA funding awarded over a three-year period, the program launched its first two educational offerings in partnership with Delaware State University and the Delaware Farm Bureau. The first program, which attracted largely minority beginning farmers emphasized marketing and financial risk management strategies tailored to early-stage producers. Educational content focused on diversifying marketing channels to stabilize revenue, evaluating direct-to-consumer and wholesale opportunities, and using enterprise budgets to inform pricing and production decisions. Participants received a customizable enterprise budgeting spreadsheet to support on-farm financial planning and decision-making.
The second program, organized in collaboration with the Delaware Farm Bureau, expanded risk management coverage to include succession planning, agricultural lending, and financial considerations for scaling operations, addressing long-term business continuity, and production risk. Both programs were delivered in an interactive format, encouraging discussion with audience.
Post-program evaluations indicate strong educational outcomes. Participants reported increased confidence in marketing decisions, improved understanding of enterprise budgeting and financing options, and greater awareness of strategies to reduce income volatility and plan for business transitions. Demand for follow-up programming and additional risk management topics was high, highlighting the value of applied, producer-focused education. Future offerings will expand to additional audiences, including veterans considering entry into agriculture.
Details
| Conference | 2026 Extension Risk Management Education National Conference |
| Presentation Type | Poster |