Managing risk during uncertain times

by | Apr 1, 2020 | 5 Ag Stories, News

Two-thousand-twenty came with a whirlwind of events, creating erratic movement in key markets. A risk management specialist encourages producers to start focusing on matters within their control to mitigate risk.

?In the current environment, there are a lot of things out of control,? shares Pat Kroese, director of sales and business development at GrainBridge. However, Kroese encourages producers to focus on matters within their control, such as understanding cost of production.

?It sounds simple, but a lot of farmers don?t enjoy the process,” Kroese said. “You have to find a tool that works for you, whether it?s a spreadsheet, notebook, or some type of digital platform. Build a budget, understand your cost of production, then build a strategy around that. Then when you?re busy in the spring, you have sell offers in at your local elevator or brokerage/consulting firm. Let?s put those offers in and let them work for you.?

GrainBridge strives to “empower farmers to market grain with confidence.? Kroese expands upon the web-based agriuclture solutions, which make this possible.

?We?ve spent over a decade building out risk management tools to (help) farmers build budgets, track marketing – to get a good visual each and everyday of their potential risk exposure, and measure their profitabilty. That’s one of our legacy products we’ve been offering for over 13 years,” Kroese said. “We’re working on a new project called STRATUM, which is going to bring grain accounting, financials, marketing, and risk management, to one place.”