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Prairie Grains Conference Professional Insight for Production and Marketing December 8--9, 2004 Ramada Inn & Alerus Center, [Program] [Conference Information] [Speakers] Wednesday, December 8, 2004 3:00 pm MAWG Resolutions Committee Meeting 4:30 pm Afternoon Social Break (snacks & refreshments served) 5:00 pm Minnesota Association of Wheat Growers and Minnesota Barley Growers Association Annual Business Meetings 6:00 pm Reception and Minnesota Wheat PAC Auction & Drawing 6:45 pm “Competing With and Selling Wheat to the World’s Largest Wheat Producers: China and the Former Soviet Union”
7:15 pm Dinner (RSVP Required.) 8:00 pm “Food and Agricultural Policies in Iraq - Opportunities for
8:30 pm Adjourn/Hospitality Thursday, December 9, 2004 6:30 am Registration (all day) and Breakfast (until 9:30) 7:00 am Research Reporting Session (See Page 3 for details) 9:00 am Trade Show Open All Day 9:30 am Welcome - General Session sponsored by Syngenta, makers of Discover 9:35 am Market Update & Speaker Introductions
9:45 am Using Weather Cycles & Probabilities for Cyclical Changes to Help Your Crop Production Planning
10:15 am Fuel Price Outlook: The Long Term Trends Influencing Fuel Prices
10:45 am Opti-Crop Intensive Wheat Management for Spring Wheat
11:30 am Morning Breakout Sessions 12:30 pm Lunch - General Session sponsored by Bayer CropScience 1:00 pm 2004 Election Analysis: The Outlook for Agriculture in a New Political Landscape
2:00 pm Afternoon Breakout Sessions (See Page 5 for Details) 3:00 pm Keeping Wheat in MN and ND Through Biotechnology
3:45 pm Take-Home Marketing Message: Analysis of the Markets for Your 2004 and 2005 Crops
4:30 pm Closing Buffet -------------------- Pre-Conference Banquet & Business Meeting -- All MAWG and MBGA members, Exhibitors and Sponsors are invited to attend our complimentary “Pre-Convention Banquet and Business Meeting.” Non-members and others can purchase tickets for $25. An RSVP for the Banquet is required. Please call the MAWG office to RSVP (800-242-6118, extension 13). MAWG Resolutions Committee Meeting -- The MAWG’s Resolutions Committee meeting will be held from 3:00-4:30 pm at the Ramada Inn. The Resolutions Committee will consider any new or amended resolutions. Members who have resolution recommendations should plan on attending and presenting them at this meeting. MAWG and MBGA Business Meeting -- The MAWG and MBGA business meetings will be conducted before dinner on December 8th at the Ramada Inn. The agenda will include short updates on activities from our presidents and financial reports from our treasurers. We will also approve the MAWG resolutions at the business meeting. Reception and MN Wheat PAC Event -- The Reception and Wheat PAC Event is a time to relax and visit with friends, neighbors or just get acquainted with other growers and industry representatives from around the state. At the reception, we will have a MN Wheat PAC drawing. All contributors to the MN Wheat PAC will be entered in the drawing. There may be a few other items up for auction which will help make the evening fun and enjoyable. Banquet -- Lee Schatz, FAS-USDA Special Counsel to Iraq, will speak on “Food and Agricultural Policies in Iraq and Opportunities for U.S. Exports.” The menu for the banquet will include chicken and roast beef, along with all the trimmings. RSVPs for the Banquet are required -- please call the MAWG office at 800-242-6118 extension 13. Hospitality Rooms -- After the banquet a few of the wheat industry’s leading crop protection companies will host hospitality rooms. Growers can network and visit with key company representatives and other growers on an informal basis. Conference Registration -- The Prairie Grains Conference is free to all members of the Minnesota Association of Wheat Growers, Minnesota Barley Growers Association, North Dakota Grain Growers Association and the NCTC Farm Business Management Program. There is a registration fee for non-members. You may register at the door but are encouraged to call the Wheat and Barley Office at 800-242-6118 extension 13 to reserve a registration for the conference or online at . Overnight Accommodations -- A block of rooms have been reserved at the Ramada Inn of Grand Forks. The room rate is $60.00 and are reserved until December 1. The contact information is as follows: Ramada Inn, 1205 N 43rd Street, Grand Forks, ND 58201 @ 701-775-3951 or 800-570-3951. Ask for the block of rooms under the MN Wheat & Barley Growers Assn. The other hotel in the same vicinity is the Holiday Inn @ 701-772-7131 - Corporate Rate of $69.00. Ask for the Corporate Rate for the MN Wheat & Barley Growers Conference. ----------------------- Alan Tracy is president and CEO of U.S. Wheat Associates, a national organization that promotes wheat exports. U.S. Wheat is funded by multiple state wheat checkoff organizations, including the Minnesota Wheat Checkoff. U.S. Wheat Associates’ staff members have traveled to the Black Sea region of the Former Soviet Union to assess, in person, the future competition we will face from their low cost wheat exports. In addition, U.S. Wheat Associates have staff people located in China to help pave the way for increased U.S. wheat exports to China. Tracy will draw upon the unmatched resources of U.S. Wheat Associates, as he shares the organization’s insights into two very important countries that can have a major impact on the future profitability of U.S. wheat producers. Lee Schatz is special counsel to Iraq for the USDA’s Foreign Agriculture Service. Schatz began his duties as USDA’s Special Counsel to Iraq on April 24, 2003 when he was the first USDA employee to arrive in Baghdad. He was stationed in Iraq at the start of the rebuilding stage and has been involved with many of the challenges that face them as they try to get their import and production systems in running order. He will report on the challenges and opportunities involving both the Iraqi Ministry of Agriculture and U.S. agriculture in the future. Leon Osborne is CEO and President of Meridian Environmental Technologies in Grand Forks. Osborne will give an overview of cycles influencing our weather, and address critical questions to successful crop production: Will the erratic conditions we have been experiencing continue? What’s the probability of another cool wet summer? Jay Debertin is senior vice president of energy & petroleum, with Cenex Harvest States Cooperatives. With CHS ranking as North America’s largest cooperative refiner and manufacturer of lubricants, and third largest propane supplier, Jay Debertin is in a good position to discuss the recent record-setting oil prices and whether he expects it to be temporary or long term. He will highlight the fuel supply and demand situation that will affect the prices you pay for fuel during the upcoming year and beyond. Phil Needham is manager of Opti-Crop in Owensboro, KY. This session will be Opti-Crop’s one and only public meeting appearance this winter. Don’t miss it. Since September 2002, when Fillbrandt’s Bigg Dogg Agg Inc., of Felton, Minnesota, teamed up with Opti-Crop, of Owensboro Kentucky, wheat growers in Minnesota and North Dakota have been hearing a lot about Intensive Wheat Management. Opti-Crop has helped rekindle the interest and provided consulting services to help growers manage their spring wheat more intensively. A driving force behind this has been Phil Needham. Needham’s stated focus for the company is to help growers around the country intensively manage all aspects of their crop production systems in order to optimize input use, increase yields, reduce risk, and maximize profitability. Needham will share some of the fundamental principles that underpin the Opti-Crop intensive wheat management program. Jerry Hagstrom is Agweek’s Washington D.C. Agricultural Correspondent and Journalist for Congressional Daily.Few have insight on politics from an agricultural perspective like Hagstrom. He will share his observations on the recent election and how it will influence the outcome of upcoming budget reduction efforts, WTO negotiations, the WTO cotton case and the new farm bill debate. Farm policy impacts your farming operation and Hagstrom will discuss the important policy decisions that will have both short-term and long-term impacts on our region’s agriculture. Gary Muehlbauer is a wheat and barley biotech researcher at the University of Minnesota in St. Paul. Muehlbauer will discuss the promising wheat biotechnology research that is taking place at U of M and other public universities around the country. Richard Magnusson is a wheat producer from Roseau, MN and currently serves as president of MAWG and chair of the Small Grains Research and Communications Committee. Magnusson will share the knowledge, perspective and postions that the Minnesota Associations of Wheat Growers have developed over the years of working on the issue of wheat biotechnology. Mike Krueger of The Money Farm in Harwood, ND is a well-known commodity market analyst who understands the markets for northern-grown crops. Krueger will offer strategies to consider in marketing your 2004 and 2005 crops. The presentation will help you understand the market fundamentals that drive the markets and to prepare you to make decisions on your own grain marketing strategies. ------------------------ RESEARCH REPORTING SESSION - THURSDAY, DECEMBER 9 This year’s Research Reporting Session, sponsored by the Minnesota Wheat Council, will highlight the research funded by your wheat checkoff. The session will begin a 7:00 am. in the Alerus Center Ballroom. Each presentation will last 20 minutes. This year’s Research Reporting Session, sponsored by the Minnesota Wheat Council, will highlight the research funded by your wheat checkoff. The session will begin a 7:00 am. in the Alerus Center Ballroom. Each presentation will last 20 minutes. 6:30 am -- Coffee & Rolls 7:00 am -- Welcome • Richard Magnusson, chair, Small Grains Research & Communications Committee (a committee of the Minnesota Wheat Checkoff). 7:10 am -- Determining Wheat Responses to Tile Drainage in the Red River Valley • Dr. Hans Kandel, U of M Extension Regional Specialist - Crookston 7:30 a.m. -- Feasibility of Winter Wheat 7:50 a.m. -- Future Variety Releases from the Minnesota Barley Breeding Program • Dr. Kevin Smith, U of M Barley Breeder, St. Paul 8:10 a.m. -- Accelerated Breeding for Scab 8:30 a.m. -- 2004 Variety Responses to Fungicide Applications at Different Growth Stages • Dr. Charla Hollingsworth, U of M Small Grains Plant Pathologist, Crookston. 8:50 a.m. -- 2004 and 2003 Responses to Various Levels of Fertilizer and Fungicide Inputs on Spring Wheat “ What’s Economical – What’s Not” • Russ Severson, Extension Educator, Polk and Red Lake Counties. 9:10 a.m. -- Applying the Results of the 2004 On-Farm Variety Trials to your Farm • Dr. Jochum Wiersma, U of M Small Grains Specialist, Crookston ------------ Morning Breakout Sessions - December 9 • 11:30 a.m. Precision Agriculture Farmer Panel – 2004 Technology Advancements and Farmer Friendly ways to use the Technology. The Panelists will be three Minnesota Wheat Farmers - Three area farmers will discuss interesting ways they have moved into using precision technology. Learn about the benefits and pitfalls they have encountered. Wayne Wagner, Crookston, Minnesota producer and panelist, will highlight some advancements that their farm has used this last year: including mapping wheat protein levels within fields using a combine protein monitor, mapping plant health and vigor (NDVI) throughout the growing season, and using a Greenseeker near infrared sensor. Federal Crop Insurance Quality and Quantity Loss Provisions – Evaluating their Performance in 2004 -- Duane Voy, Deputy Director of the Risk Management Agency in St. Paul, will highlight the changes that have occurred in wheat and barley crop insurance coverage. He will also address this year’s quantity and quality losses incurred by growers in this area. Voy will also be seeking your thoughts on how well this year’s crop insurance covered both yield and quality losses. This will be a great opportunity to ask questions and to provide your opinions to an official of the Risk Management Agency. Update on the Secrets of High Profit Crop Producers and the Practices They Implement – Ron and Greg Dvergsten, NCTC Farm Business Management instructors, will provide an update from last year’s presentation at the Prairie Grains Conference. Data from 2003 has been added to the survey results that show what production, financial and business practices high profit crop producers use on their farms. These results have been summarized, and the characteristics that correlate with profitability will be discussed. Get ideas for your farm and compare your crop management practices with those outlined in the survey. Farmer Friendly Spreadsheets - Copies Available for You to Take Home -- Rick Morgan, Sheldon Schmiess, and Greg Tullis of NCTC Farm Business Management along with Dave Vilmo, AgCountry Farm Credit Services will present “Farmer Friendly Spreadsheets.” Does your calculator get a workout each time you sit down to your desk to do paperwork? Well, there may be a simple computer spreadsheet that can simplify a lot of the calculations and record keeping that you do. These spreadsheets have been developed by farmers, for farmer, to speed up anything from calculating and tracking the bushels of grain in storage to helping you make decisions on your crop insurance coverage. Learn how to use a spreadsheet and get a sampling of all the innovated spreadsheets that are available. You will get copies of the spreadsheets to use at home. Afternoon Breakout Sessions - December 9 • 2:00 p.m. Marketing Strategies being used by NCTC Marketing Group Participants -- Mike Lockhart, NCTC Farm Business Management instructor and marketing group leader will discuss the marketing strategies that local marketing groups are considering and using to market their 2004 and 2005 crops. Lockhart’s presentation will pay particular attention to how these strategies can be incorporated with the government farm programs that are available to you. In addition, Lockhart will discuss how you can work with your local elevator to enhance marketing opportunities. How to Use IPAQ’s (Handheld Computers) to Map Fields, Mark and Relocate Weed Patches and Keep Records on your Farm -- Dennis Sevigny, NCTC Farm and Small Business Management will speak on prices for handheld computers are coming down and many growers are considering them as a way to get into precision agriculture and to learn more about technology. Learn what IPAQ’s and other handheld computers have to offer and what you can do with them. There will be demonstrations and opportunities before and after the presentations to have hands-on-instructions on how to use IPAQ’s. Growers who are participating in the session will be encouraged to ask questions and to share unique ideas on how they are using their handheld computers. Update on NRCS Conservation Programs: EQIP, Continuous CRP and CSP – What Works and What Doesn’t for Small Grain Producers -- Al Gustafson, area resource conservationist, Thief River Fall, MN will discuss how well the USDA conservation programs performed for small grains growers last year. He will update everyone on changes to the programs and on what he thinks you should consider for the upcoming year. Highlights will include popular production practices that are eligible for conservation payments, how to sign up and how much money is available for next year. Managing Your Spring Wheat for High Yields: Things to Do – Things to Consider -- Terry Gregoire, NDSU Extension regional specialist, Devils Lake and Dr. Jochum Wiersma, U of M small grains specialist will team up to share some ways that a typical wheat grower can take their wheat management practices up a notch or two if they are willing to devote the added time and energy it requires. They will review NDSU and U of M recommendations and they will focus particularly on the in-season decisions that growers can make to enhance their wheat production and quality. |
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