Farmers, mark your calendars

Not a news report on people preparing for TEOTWAWKI, but rather just someone referencing it humorously.

But that's the type of thing I report here as well as real news, so:

From the Jamestown Sun: Farmers, mark your calendars You may have heard that the Mayan calendar ends in 2012, and that it might be the end of the world. Just for your information, the Mayan calendar ends like ours ends, on Dec. 31. As the song goes, “don’t worry, be happy.”

There is another thing to put on your calendar this year. It is the second annual “Ag Outlook Seminar for Farmers and Ranchers.” Last year, the event was well attended, the food was good, and it didn’t cost the attendees a cent.

There were a lot of positive comments from last year’s seminar. I have received a lot of requests to do it again this year. With all of the changes in agriculture, I’m sure that you will not want to miss this.

This year, it will be held at the North Dakota Farmers Union Conference Center in Jamestown. Again, there will be another free meal, and this year it is sponsored by Stutsman County Farmers Union.

Registration will be at 9:30 a.m. The first presentation at 10 a.m. will be “Crop Outlook” and will cover wheat, corn, soybeans, and sunflowers. The next speaker will discuss “Cash and Flexible Cash Land Lease Arrangements and Strategies.” This topic will cover the different types of cash and flexible cash land leases and will include the concept of bonus payments.

A discussion on “Crop Share Lease Agreements” covering the risks and rewards of a crop share lease will follow. Spreadsheets will be used to show how to set up an equitable share lease by crop and region.

We will hold nominations and elections for the North Dakota Sunflower representative from our county right before lunch. It is critical that you show for this if you raise sunflowers (and I know who you are). Even if you don’t run, it is important that you are there so that you can have a voice in this process.

After lunch will be a presentation on “Crop Selection/Input Costs.” This information can save you “the producer” a lot of money.

The last presentation on “Cattle Outlook” will be given by Dr. Tim Petry. His presentation is done last so that cattle producers can complete chores and have an opportunity to hear this great presentation. Last year many of the crop producers stuck around to see how their crops would fit in this process.