National Ag Risk Education Library -- Risk Management on the Web

Farm Business Management Update, December 1998

By Center for Farm Financial Management, University of Minnesota

Risk management is something every producer needs to consider. Nationally, USDA is emphasizing the importance of risk management education -- perhaps at an opportune time, considering the plummeting commodity prices we have experienced in the second half of 1998.

The Center for Farm Financial Management at the University of Minnesota is the Webmaster for USDA's National Ag Risk Education Library. Managing information is an overwhelming challenge for everyone. This site can help you locate and access information on a wide range of risk management and farm management topics very quickly.

The library's purpose is to: (1) Develop an organized system that will help producers and agricultural professionals quickly find risk management information. (2) Provide a web site with a national scope that will provide centralized access to the risk management strengths that individual states offer. (3) Provide a place for developers and presenters of risk management materials to share materials with a broader audience.

The library contains hundreds of documents that address the production, price, financial, legal, and human aspects of risk. Documents are organized by type of risk, commodity, geographic region, and type of material, including fact sheets, articles, bulletins, curriculum, presentations, and software programs.

"The establishment of the National Ag Risk Education Library represents a major milestone in helping farmers, ranchers, and agribusinesses find the information they need to deal with today's farming risks," says Craig Witt, USDA's Risk Management Education Director.

Check it out at www.agrisk.umn.edu If you have comments or know of materials that should be added to the library, send e-mail to risk@cffm.agecon.umn.edu.

Visit Virginia Cooperative Extension