By DOUG GRAVES
Ohio Correspondent

UPPER SANDUSKY, Ohio — Looking for ways to capitalize on financial, environmental and marketing trends to increase farm profits? Farmers with these aspirations are invited to attend The Ohio State University extension’s Future Trends for Profitability in Agriculture workshop Feb. 9.

“The future for specialty crop growers is bright,” says Purdue University extension grain marketing specialist Dr. Corinne Alexander, one of four key speakers at the event. “The world has changed a lot since 2005, especially in terms of marketing opportunities. Just the fact that there’s ethanol plants spread throughout the Midwest it has changed where the grain flows and that’s an example of a significant change.”

Alexander has contacted many grain buyers in the specialty crop sector and plans on letting workshop attendees in on where things are headed.

“I plan on giving farmers a real framework to think how they can add value,” she said. “Value comes from three different components – space, time and form. Form means quality and space is the transportation advantage given to farmers. Value is so vital. Any time you’re adding value you have to find your niche, and once you find that niche it’ll take a couple of farmers to fill that niche.”

Other speakers include Texas A&M professor and extension economist Danny Klinefelter, OSU ag economist Brent Sohngen and Chris Bruynis, OSU extension educator for agriculture and natural resources in Wyandot County.

Klinefelter specializes in agriculture finance and management development. He is the director of The Executive Program for Agricultural Producers (TEPAP), director of the Texas A&M Family and Owner-Managed Business Program and co-director of the Texas A&M/Texas Tech Agricultural Lending School.

Sohngen is professor of environmental and resource economics in the Department of Agriculture, Environmental and Development Economics. Sohngen conducts research on the economics of land use change, the design of incentive mechanisms for water and carbon trading, carbon sequestration and non-market valuation of environmental resources.

The workshop is 9 a.m.-3 p.m. at the Wyandot County Fairgrounds Masters Building, 10171 SR 53 North in Upper Sandusky. The cost to register is $45.