Plans for the 2014 Maryland Crop Insurance Workshop, sponsored by the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, University of Maryland Extension, Maryland Department of Agriculture, Delaware Department of Agriculture, and U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Risk Management Agency are being finalized, with expert speakers scheduled to share their thoughts about the current state of crop insurance, what implementation of the new Farm Bill means to crop insurance, and any recent changes crop insurance products.
The Crop Insurance Workshop will take place September 9th at the DoubleTree Hotel, located at 210 Holiday Ct., Annapolis, MD, from 9:00 to 3:30. Lunch will be served. There is no registration fee. You can register at https://cropinsuranceworkshop.eventbrite.com.
Conference planners are tapping into the wealth of knowledge available in the Washington D.C. area as well as other expert from further afield. The following speakers will be presenting:
A featured speaker will be Dr. Joe Glauber, USDA Chief Economist, discussing Farm Safety Net Under the 2014 Farm Bill. As Chief Economist, he is responsible for the Department’s agricultural forecasts and projections and for advising the Secretary of Agriculture on economic implications of alternative programs, regulations, and legislative proposals. He is responsible for the Office of the Chief Economist, the World Agricultural Outlook Board, the Office of Risk Assessment and Cost-Benefit analysis, the Global Change Program Office, and the Office of Energy Policy and New Uses. Dr. Glauber received his Ph.D. in agricultural economics from the University of Wisconsin in 1984 and holds an AB in anthropology from the University of Chicago.
Another featured speaker will be Juan Garcia, Administrator, USDA-Farm Service Agency. Administrator Garcia was selected to serve as Administrator for the Farm Service Agency in July 2012. Garcia previously served as Deputy Administrator for Farm Programs where he managed all FSA programs under the Production Emergencies and Compliance Division, Conservation and Environmental Programs Division, and Price Support Division. A native of Lyford, Texas, Garcia was raised on his family’s 500-acre farm. Garcia received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Animal Science from Texas A&I in Kingsville (now Texas A&M University-Kingsville) and was recognized as the College of Agriculture’s 2010 Hall of Honors Alumnus. Garcia and his wife, Belinda, have three grown children.
Gene Gantz, USDA-RMA, will present Assembling the Pieces into a Reliable Risk Management Plan. Gene owns and operates a small farm in his native Dauphin County PA. He has been associated with the crop insurance business for 47 years at the national and local levels with USDA and the private industry. He works for the Risk Management Agency of USDA as an educator in 8 northeastern states. His passion is to help Northeastern U.S. producers utilize crop insurance-based risk management strategies and commodity marketing tools more effectively to better manage their risk exposures and as a foundation to increase profitability.
Stephen Frerichs will present the Current Crop Insurance and Federal Policy Outlook Stephen owns and operates his own consulting and lobbying firm, AgVantage LLC in Alexandria, Virginia. He has recent insights into the shifts in funding and new programs that may be appearing in the next year or two. Stephen specializes in budget, agricultural and crop insurance issues. Previously he was the manager of the American Association of Crop Insurers and has held various positions within the U.S. Government at the Office of Management and Budget and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Pat McMillan, Assistant Secretary Maryland Department of Agriculture will provide an overview of the current crop conditions in Maryland and the outlook for quantity and prices in the near future. This talk will highlight current and potential risks that might affect producers demand for certain insurance products.
Steve Connelly, Lucas Clifton, and Howard Leathers, will give an update on Delaware and Maryland Crop Insurance Education Programs.
If you have any questions, please contact Howard Leathers at 301-405-1277 or howardl@umd.edu, or Paul Goeringer at 301-405-3541 or lgoering@umd.edu. If you know others to whom this conference might be of interest, please pass on the information, which can be found at https://cropinsuranceworkshop.eventbrite.com.