Today’s farmers and ranchers face an unprecedented risk environment. Never has the need for risk management education been more important than now. Risk management involves choosing risk management strategies and the tools designed to reduce the financial effects of the uncertainties of commodity prices, government policies, crop yields, global economies, weather, human factors and other conditions that can cause dramatic fluctuations in farm income.
Since 2001, the North Central ERME Center, hosted by the University of Nebraska–Lincoln Department of Agricultural Economics, has addressed the volatility and uncertainty that producers in our 12-state region face in agriculture, the evolving farm policy environment that increasingly emphasizes risk management, and the legislative mandate to provide risk management education to agricultural producers. Our goal is simple….give farmers and ranchers the tools to improve their risk management skills and capabilities.
During this time, the NCERMEC has awarded 444 projects for a total of over $14.2 million in funding to public, private and non-profit entities to carry out producer-focused, results-based risk management education programs. Our educational programs have resulted in 143,431 farm and ranch participants receiving risk management education and more than 440,730 measurable producer actions to better manage risk on their operations.
This Center has a strong history of funding legacy projects such as “Winning the Game” and “Annie’s Project”. The Center is positioned to continue funding risk management education programs that impact producers across the region and beyond in the years to come.
Read the three part series of Cornhusker Economics published in 2024 Christine Lockert, Sheila Aikanathan Johnson, Brad Lubben and Milan Chauhan.
2024
Part I: North Central Extension Risk Management Education Center Helps Producers Manage Risks
Part III: The North Central Extension Risk Management Education Center – Outcomes and Impacts