Agriculture has always faced uncertainty. Although agricultural risk management has come a long way in recent years, producers face a multifaceted risk landscape that is constantly changing due to unpredictable weather, evolving regulatory frameworks, and volatile markets. In this article, we address some factors that make today’s risk environment increasingly complex, discuss common “blind spots”, and provide tips for distinguishing market signals from noise.  [Read more…] about Seeing What Others Miss: Making Sense of Agricultural Risk Today
On July 4, 2025, President Trump signed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) into law. The law included changes to the Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC) programs. In a previous post, we covered what changed for the PLC program. This post explains what has changed for the ARC program and how payments under these programs might be affected. 
Projected crop insurance prices for counties in AgriLife Extension Districts 1 and 2 were set in February. Today, we consider what these prices imply about the financial risk that producers face in 2025. 
As we enter a new year, producers are making plans for a new crop. Those plans will depend in part on their expectations regarding their costs of production. In this post, we’ll discuss our expectations for five important costs in 2025. 
Does your business generate enough income to make scheduled debt and lease payments? If necessary, could that income also cover payments on additional debt? In today’s post, we’ll look at a set of financial measures that can help you answer these important questions. 
Can you borrow to finance new purchases when you need to? Or will borrowing more put your business at risk of bankruptcy? Your ability to answer these questions accurately is an important part of managing your business for long-term success. In today’s blog we’ll look at some information taken from a farm’s business records that can help you make financially responsible borrowing decisions.
An important part of managing a farm business is managing debt. Producers who utilize debt effectively can increase the profitability of their operation. However, borrowing comes at a cost. Today, we’ll discuss the different types of loans available to producers and their structures. We’ll also look at how different loan structures impact the cost of borrowing.