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Leading
farmers to the waters of risk management training and convincing them
to drink is the daunting task before Washington State University's
Jon Newkirk.
Let's not mince words. Economic survival
of thousands of farmers in 13 Western states is what's at risk. Newkirk
launched the Western Center for Risk Management Education, October
1, 2001, with a $992,000 federal grant to cover educational programs
for farmers in 13 Western states.
Newkirk, an agricultural economist,
is the center's director-one of four in the nation-from an office
in Spokane. He received 42 pre-proposals from universities and private
organizations in the Western states for funding to conduct educational
programs this year. In March, Newkirk asked about 20 of those organizations
to submit full applications. In May, he will announce funding awards.
Successful applicants will have convinced
Newkirk that producers will attend the educational programs they offer,
and that they will apply the educational they receive. "This is a
results-based process," Newkirk says. "It is significantly different
from most grant processes. We will be funding those projects that
suggest to us that they have the highest probability of generating
the kinds of results that we're interested in. It's not good enough
to put together a good program and hope farmers will come," Newkirk
says.
"I believe really strongly in funding
results, not programs," he said.
Somehow, risk management educators must
overcome reluctance felt by many producers who are in precarious financial
shape. "Sometimes the ones who need most to come are very reluctant.
They view it as a sign of failure."
Newkirk
says the center can fund eight or nine projects and has pre-applications
for $1.8 million. He has $313,000 to distribute. Funding is from the
Risk Protection Act that Congress passed in 2000. Congress envisioned
a five-year program with the four national centers competing each
year for funds to continue their operations. |
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One of the center's challenges is that of expanding farmers' perceptions of risk management. The old view is that it has to do with insurance and government programs. Newkirk said economists now define risk management as a broad subject dealing with all of the economic factors that influence survival of family farms.
This includes insurance and government programs, but goes beyond them to marketing, writing business plans, and developing strategies for coping with adverse weather and other events beyond a grower's control.
"One of the conundrums of agriculture is that there's a whole set of issues that are just a normal part of business meetings and training in other segments of the economy that for some reason or another we've never brought into our agricultural meetings." Newkirk says.
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