Commodity Tours Offer Opportunities  Mark Nelson

Mar. 5, 2008

$11 wheat, $5 corn and $15 soybeans; prices up $0.50 per bushel one day and down $0.70 the next.  With the kind of prices and volatility that grain and oilseed markets have experienced over the last several months, it's more important than ever to learn about the markets and market information that impact the commodities we grow.

Kansas Farm Bureau understands that and is coordinating three educational trips in 2008.  Each trip provides you the opportunity to interact with industry participants, hear from experts, ask questions and learn more about the markets and market data affecting Kansas wheat, feedgrain and oilseed producers.

To learn more about these trips and how to register, go to the Commodities page on the KFB website, http://www.kfb.org/commodities  Each trip will have a separate signup period, starting on a specific date.  Each trip is funded through a combination of your dollars and KFB sponsorship.  If you have any questions about any of these trips, please don't hesitate to contact me.

May 5 - 8, 2008: "Kansas Wheat Quality Tour," is a three day trek across Kansas with multiple stops in fields throughout the state. Each day of the tour you travel with a different group of participants, assessing wheat crop potential using formulas provided by Kansas Agricultural Statistics. The tour not only provides you with first-hand experience and understanding of the size, condition and quality of the 2008 Kansas wheat crop; but more importantly, it will provide you the opportunity to meet, interact and network with 40-50 other wheat industry participants, including USDA and University personnel, price analysts, grain merchandisers, millers, importers of US wheat and other end users.

The Kansas Wheat Quality Tour is open to anyone but only the first five registrants will qualify to have KFB pay their registration fee of $250.

Registration began March 3rd and there are only three spots left.

July 8 - 10, 2008: "Futures Market Tour of Chicago," provides participants the opportunity to visit the two largest agricultural futures markets in the U.S., the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) and the Chicago Board of Trade (CBT). Tours of each market are intermixed with educational seminars from market participants and regulators, along with some time reserved for seeing and experiencing the sights of Chicago. Accommodations are reserved at the Hyatt Regency Chicago which overlooks the Chicago River, is four blocks from Lake Michigan, and across the street from Michigan Avenue’s “Magnificent Mile.”

Registration will begin at noon, April 14, 2008, with the first 30 registrants qualifying to go on this trip.  Room reservations will be made based on double occupancy, so register with a spouse or friend if possible.

August 10 - 12, 2008: "USDA Reports Trip to KC and DC," is a three-day excursion tracing the development and release of a USDA Crop Report. The trip begins with a visit to the Kansas City Board of Trade where the focus is wheat. Participants will hear from Kansas Agricultural Statistics personnel how sample surveys are collected and state yield and production estimates are made. How the information from USDA Reports are used by industry and the impact they have on commodity prices will also be addressed through presentations and a tour of the KCBT.

The USDA Reports Trip is highlighted by a flight to Washington D.C. and the opportunity to observe the August, 2008 USDA "Lock Up" and World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates, including estimates of U.S. corn, soybean and wheat production and the monthly report to the USDA Secretary of Agriculture. Presentations by National Agricultural Statistics Service and World Agricultural Outlook Board staff help to explain how survey data is combined with other estimating tools to create national and world crop estimates.

Registration will begin at noon, April 7, 2008, with the first 10 registrants qualifying to go on this trip.  Room reservations will be made based on double occupancy, so register with a spouse or friend if possible.