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3. 2005 National Extension Risk Management Education Conference

Training in Agricultural Risk Management Tools to Provide Effective Crop Insurance and Financial Education to Underserved Producers

Albert Essel

Summary

Virginia State University, the Center for Farm Financial Management at the University of Minnesota, and National Crop Insurance Services have partnered to help socially disadvantaged producers understand how to use business plans, cash flow plans, farm financial statements, and crop insurance to improve farm financial management capabilities. During the past two years train-the-trainer workshops have helped 129 educators and community-based organization staff improve their capacity to help socially disadvantaged producers develop high quality financial statements and documentation for loan applications.

The results from this series of training sessions include 1) educators and advisors who have increased confidence to help socially disadvantaged farmers learn how to manage their farm finances; 2) increased farm management programming by universities and community based organizations to provide farm financial management and crop insurance education to socially disadvantaged farmers; and 3) new and expanded educational farm financial management education programs throughout the country that are directed toward socially disadvantaged producers.

This program is now focusing on helping participants from the train-the-trainer sessions deliver workshops and individual assistance to socially disadvantaged producers. A study of barriers that educators and community based organizations face to using sophisticated technology to help socially disadvantaged farmers will be part of this project. New case farms will be developed by working directly with several socially disadvantaged farmers and using their stories and data to develop teaching cases that can be used in workshops with other socially disadvantaged producers.

Details

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