I want to remind you that we have several workshops coming up this week. We have a pesticide safety education program this afternoon in Valentine. We will start at 1:30 PM Central Time in the Cherry County Courthouse meeting room. The training will also be held at the Village Hall in Merriman this Wednesday afternoon, January 30 at 1:30 Mountain Time. These programs are for people who either need a private pesticide applicators license, or have a license that expires this year. Anyone who purchases or applies a restricted use pesticide is required by law to have a pesticide applicators license. If you miss these workshops, we will have another one in Valentine on April 7.
Tonight is also the last class in this winter’s Beef Satellite Short Course series. Matt Spangler, UNL Extension Beef Specialist, will tackle the topic of breeding Indexes and new terminology in beef genetics. He will also field a free-for-all question and answer session on animal selection.
Those are all of the workshops we have this week, but I want to give you advance notice for one that we have coming up February 20. The insurance and risk will give cattle producers the chance to participate in a unique risk management education opportunity. Squish, shift, lop and skew might sound like professional wrestling moves, but they are the four strategies cattle producers can use to influence risk. Ranching is risky business. Choosing risk management strategies to accomplish specific goals can be challenging.
Participants will experience RightRiskTM, a computerized risk simulation. This fun & interactive simulation game will allow cattle producers to try risk management concepts in a risk-free environment. You will discover new ways of thinking about risk management.
Dr. Jay Parsons and Dr. Dana Hoag, from Colorado State University, discuss risk and risk management. They will lead workshop participants in exploring different risk management strategies using RightRiskTM .
The workshop will specifically address the topic of insurance. There will be an overview of Livestock Risk Protection Insurance and other Risk Management Agency backed insurance products available to ranchers. Personal insurance, like health and auto insurance, will also be addressed. The insurance discussions will center on balancing the cost of insurance against the risk of something happening and the cost of not being insured.
This workshop will be presented by RightRisk, LLC and the University of Nebraska – Lincoln Extension. It is made possible through a grant from the USDA Risk Management Agency.
I also want to remind you that the 4-H Council is making plans for their Luck of the Draw raffle fundraiser that’s held during Bull Bash. If you have something that you would like to donate, please contact the Extension office or any 4-H member.
As always, you can contact the extension office at 402-376-1850, or visit us on the web for more information on any of the things I’ve covered.
