2026 Breakout Sessions
SCHEDULE
1. Government Payments for Row Crops in 2026
Robin Reid
Government support payments have played a significant role in the financial performance of Kansas row-crop farms in recent years. This session will examine the contribution of ad hoc assistance programs (including ECAP, FBA, and SDRP) to farm income and present projections for Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC) payments that will be received in October 2026, for the 2025 crop year. These farm program payments are the first to be received under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act enhancements to the programs. Base acre changes and election of ARC or PLC for the 2026 crop will also be discussed.
2. Predicting SCO and ECO Crop Insurance Payouts using Preliminary County-Level Loss Data
Anup Paudel, Jenny Ifft
The research aims to fill the six-month gap between early Revenue Protection information and final SCO/ECO indemnity payments by using January-reported RP loss cost ratios to predict county yield ratios and then estimate SCO and ECO triggers. The objective is to provide producers with earlier, more credible indemnity forecasts so they can better manage cash flow, financing, and input decisions before final county yields are released. The project focuses on county-level data from the RMA Summary of Business and related price information, and it evaluates how well different statistical and machine learning models convert early RP signals into useful predictions. It also examines whether prediction quality changes across coverage bands, especially under the 2027 SCO/ECO rule changes, and whether certain regions or crop conditions produce stronger or weaker model performance.
3. The New Economics of Farm Risk: Specialization, Scale, and Stability
Joe Parcell, Weston Guetterman
Historically, diversification has been viewed as a key strategy for reducing farm financial risk and stabilizing year-to-year variability in net farm income. However, since the mid-1990s, consolidation spurred by enterprise specialization has been a defining trend for the U.S. farm sector. This raises an important question. To what degree has specialization overtaken diversification as a means of risk reduction? Using Kansas Farm Management Association data from 1973 to 2024 and comparing farms relative to their neighbors, we examine the role that specialization, size, government programs, etc. have played in changing financial risk, financial efficiency, and profitability.
4. Macroeconomic Update
Brian Briggeman
As of June, 2026, the macroeconomy has been resilient in the face of uncertainty. Labor markets are holding. Consumption continues to grow at a modest pace despite persistent inflation pushing up prices. Taken together, the US economy continues to grow at a reasonable pace. However, US consumer sentiment is at an all time low and personal debt figures continue to grow. In addition, the Federal Reserve continues the internal debate of should interest rates increase, decrease or hold steady. So the question remains, where will interest rates go? What are the implications for US agriculture and rural America? How should farmers and agribusinesses respond? In this talk, Brian Briggeman will have a discussion on these topics and questions with those in attendance.
5. Agricultural Finance Update
Allen Featherstone
Crop profitability continues to be elusive. This analysis will examine the current financial situation for Kansas including the land market changes. The financial health of Kansas farms coming out of 2025 will be examined along with the outlook of 2026.
6. Crop Enterprise Profitability
Mark Dikeman
For KFMA farms, 2025 was a profitable year due in a large part to high levels of government payments and strong livestock revenue. However, few crop enterprises showed an economic profit despite above average crop yields through much of the state. This session will review 2025 data from KFMA, with a focus on major crop enterprises in the state. In addition, we will use 2025 data, combined with audience participation/estimation, to project crop enterprise profitability for 2026.
7. Fertilizer and Diesel Prices, The Crude Story
Gregg Ibendahl
Coming soon...
8. Current Trends of Black Sea Grain and Oilseed Markets
Antonina Broyaka
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has had a significant impact on global food security and altered the structure of global agricultural markets. Being among the top producers and exporters of grain and oilseeds, Ukraine and Russia collectively provide approximately 30% of global wheat exports, about 15% of the corn market, and nearly 60% of the world's sunflower oil, supplying over 12% of the total calories traded worldwide. Instability in these Black Sea nations results in supply-chain interruptions, price fluctuations for agricultural commodities, shifts in trade volumes and destinations, while creating both new risks and opportunities for global food importers and suppliers. Therefore, understanding trends in production, trade and agricultural policy in Ukraine and Russia can enhance public and private decision making regarding the development of key agricultural markets in other countries.
9. 2026/2027 World Grain Market Outlook
Guy Allen, Daniel O'Brien
World grain markets are determined largely by international crop supply-demand conditions, which are heavily influenced by weather patterns, world energy and domestic bioenergy markets, foreign exchange rates among leading grain exporters and importers, geopolitical conflicts with their carryover impacts on international shipping, and other factors. In Summer 2026 ongoing energy market disruptions from the U.S.-Iran conflict in the middle east have impacted international shipping, while the Ukraine-Russia war, crop growing weather in the U.S. and elsewhere, and ongoing international demand for food either directly or indirectly from grain crops and other key factors are all driving U.S. and international grain markets.
10. 2026/2027 North American Energy and Bioenergy Market Policies and Trends
Daniel O'Brien, Gregg Ibendahl, Frayne Olson, David Riplinger
U.S. domestic bioenergy policy continues to perhaps the key factor driving bioenergy markets – along with carryover impacts from energy markets, the size of domestic U.S. corn, soybean and other oilseed crops. The transition to effective usage of 45Z program regulations in the U.S. bioenergy industry is an ongoing factor, as are continuing issues with small refinery blending credits and other policy factors. The question can be asked about whether the U.S. ethanol, biodiesel and renewable diesel industries are “mature” industries, and if so, then what are their future prospects for growth?
11. Spatial Heterogeneity in Corn–Soybean Planting Decisions and Price Responses
Margaret Lippsmeyer, Jenny Ifft
Corn–soybean rotations dominate much of the U.S. Midwest, with planting decisions influenced by agronomic constraints, local production conditions, and expected relative prices. Extension recommendations often rely on a soybean-to-corn price ratio threshold of 2.5 to predict switching between crops, implicitly assuming uniform production environments and planting responses. This study evaluates that assumption by integrating USDA Crop Sequence Boundary data (2018–2025) with futures prices, climate data, soil quality measures, input costs, and ARC-CO revenue guarantees. We estimate county level planting probabilities, acreage responses, and crop supply elasticities as functions of prices, previous crop choices, local production conditions, and policy incentives. We then simulate county specific soybean-to-corn price ratio thresholds required to induce a deviation from average county production decisions . Results reveal spatial heterogeneity in planting responses and switching thresholds, suggesting that a uniform price ratio rule may mischaracterize regional production decisions and mislead planting recommendations.
12. Market Concentration, Supply Chain Resilience, and Producer Welfare: Lessons from the U.S. Ethanol Processing Industry
Yixin Tian, Aleksan Shanoyan
Processor concentration is conventionally seen as buyer market power that lowers prices to producers. However, concentrated processors may also buffer regional demand when transport channels fail. The fall 2022 low water period on the Mississippi, which cut barge capacity and constrained inland export movement, offers a setting to test this trade-off. Using weekly county-level corn basis across seven states during 2018–2024 harvests, and controlling for river distance and drought severity, we find that more concentrated local ethanol demand firmed basis during the shock in the deep inland states (Kansas, Nebraska, the Dakotas).
13. Long Term Care Planning Considerations for Farmers and Ranchers
Ashlee Westerhold
This session will help farmers and ranchers understand the realities of long-term care costs, available care options, and strategies for funding future care needs. Participants will learn how long-term care planning intersects with estate planning, farm succession, and asset protection, while exploring tools such as insurance, trusts, and Medicaid planning. Attendees will leave with practical steps to help protect their operation, reduce family stress, and preserve their farm or ranch for future generations.
14. General Tax Updates and Trump Accounts
Kellen Liebsch, Chelsea Plummer
This session will provide an easy-to-understand overview of the most important federal and state income tax changes for 2026. The presentation will also introduce the new Trump Accounts, explaining how they work, who may be eligible, and how they could factor into long-term savings and financial planning.
15. The 1980s Farm Crisis and Off-farm Labor Allocation
Wyatt Pracht, Jenny Ifft, Jisang Yu
Coming soon...
16. Investment Analysis on Rented Ground
Megan Hughes
This session centers around how to conduct an investment analysis for improvements to rented ground, using drainage tile as an example. We will discuss the data components required for NPV and breakeven analyses, and considerations for lease agreements.
17. Farmland Value Effects of CRP Enrollment
Eugene Oku, Gabe Sampson
Farmland is one of the most important assets farmers own, so any program that affects land use can also affect land value. This study looks at how Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) enrollment affects farmland prices in Kansas. We find that land enrolled in CRP tends to sell for less than similar land that is not enrolled in the program. A parcel fully enrolled in CRP sells for about 27% less. Each extra year left on a CRP contract lowers the land value by about $14 per acre. However, a higher CRP rental payment helps increase the land value. For the CRP acres in this study, the total reduction in land market value is about $45 million. These acres also provide environmental benefits by storing carbon in the soil and vegetation.
18. Farm Household Spending and Responses to Farm Stress
Megan Hughes, Brady Brewer
In family businesses, business and household financial decision-making tends to be highly intertwined. In this session, we will explore trends in family living expenses and examine how farm households respond to macro-economic stress relative to the average U.S. household.
19. Grazing Management Plans and Their Economic Effect on Kansas Cow-Calf Producers
Kylie Bedel, Dustin Pendell, Phillip Lancaster
In 2023, the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef announced an industry goal of putting 385 million acres of grazing lands into grazing management plans (GMPs). These GMPs accumulate producers’ operational goals and objectives, resource and forage inventories, and monitor contingency plans for their grazing land and cattle operation. This presentation looks at how GMPs and different grazing patterns affect Kansas cow-calf operations and their costs, profitability, and productivity of their animals.
20. LRP Usage: What Coverage Is Being Used and Where?
Jioh Park, Brian Coffey
Livestock Risk Protection (LRP) has become an increasingly risk utilized management tool for cattle producers. This session will examine how LRP is being used across cattle operations with focus on what types of coverage producers are purchasing and where participation is concentrated. The goal of this session is to provide farmers, ranchers, and agricultural advisors with a clearer understanding of how producers are applying LRP in real-world marketing decisions and what current usage trends indicate about the future role of LRP in cattle price risk management. Time will be devoted to address questions from the audience.
21. Valuing Groundwater Across Irrigation and Livestock Systems
Micah Cameron-Harp, Hannah Parker
Coming soon...
22. Flexible Water Rights
Micah Cameron-Harp
Coming soon...
23. Using OpenET to Determine the Impact of Groundwater Conservation
Bill Golden
The Ogallala Aquifer in Kansas is experiencing significant impacts from declining aquifer thickness. To stem declines and approach aquifer sustainability, producers must transition to reduced groundwater withdrawal and enhanced system-level water use efficiency. The Sheridan #6 LEMA is an example of an area that has restricted groundwater use. Data obtained from OpenET will be used to determine the impact on corn yield and producer risk.
24. How Can Crop Marketing and Crop Insurance Go Together?
Chandan Bhattarai, Hunter Biram, Andrew McKenzie, Jesse Tack
Forward contracting and crop insurance are two of the most widely used risk management tools available to crop producers, yet they are often viewed as separate decisions. This study explains how these tools can work together to improve farm profitability while reducing financial risk. Forward contracting allows farmers to lock in favorable grain prices before harvest but increases the risk of financial losses if crop yields are lower than expected. Crop insurance helps offset this production risk by providing financial protection against yield losses. Using results from simulation study, we show that combining forward contracting with crop insurance generally provides better outcomes than relying on either strategy alone.
25. Solar Opportunities in Rural Kansas: Siting on Marginal Agricultural Land, Community Solar Projects, and Support for Solar in Rural Communities
Eliyasu Osman, Jason Bergtold, David Wesseler, Pedro Dan Edamatu Carvalho, Marcellus Caldas
Solar energy adoption and production by communities in Kansas and across the Great Plains has increased over the past decade, but has given rise to significant challenges posed by rural communities, agriculture, and policymakers. Solar has often been sited on productive agricultural lands due to the lower development costs, but less is known about the suitability of solar installations on marginal agricultural lands. In addition, support for and perceptions about solar energy across rural communities is not fully understood. This presentation looks at the suitability of marginal lands for solar installations, perceptions about solar, and rural community support for solar in Kansas and the surrounding states.
26. Measuring the Resilience of Kansas Farms to Environmental and Policy Shocks
Gifty Ayela, Jesse Tack
This project aims to use the KFMA data to study how farms cope with challenges such as droughts, extreme weather, market volatility, and policy changes. The goal is to identify the financial and management practices that help farms remain profitable during difficult periods and recover more quickly afterward. The findings can help farmers evaluate their own operations, improve risk management decisions, and identify strategies that support long-term business success.
27. Misstructured Subsidies in Pasture, Range, and Forage Insurance
Luke Byers
Policyholders of Pasture, Range, & Forage Insurance (PRF) have the option to distribute their policies’ coverage across different time periods throughout the year. In general, premium rates and expected indemnities are inversely related to rainfall distribution throughout the year. This study examines the characteristics of premium rates in PRF that predict a general strategy across locations for selecting time periods that maximize expected net indemnities. The key finding of this study is that a profit-maximizing general strategy depends on premium subsidies. With unsubsidized premiums, the general profit-maximizing strategy is to insure time periods where average rainfall totals are highest. Because premium rates vary with rainfall distribution throughout the year, premium subsidies distort expected profits in each time period by varying degrees. With subsidized premiums, the general profit-maximizing strategy is to insure time periods where average rainfall and production risk are lowest. Percentage premium subsidies misstructure PRF Insurance by reducing policyholders premium risk exposure unevenly.
28. What Does the Stock Market Tell Us About the Economy?
Vincent Amanor-Boadu
Time is the real constraint. And since the beginning of time, humans recognizing this constraint have endeavored to leverage knowledge and technology to steal time. This process of stealing time is what we call efficiency in economics. Artificial intelligence (AI) is one more technology on the continuum of progress allowing humans to steal time so they can achieve more with less time and less production inputs. AI has been in the news so much that it is difficult to separate reality from hype, truth from exaggerated self-interest, and reality from promotion. In this conversation about AI and agricultural production, we focus on looking at AI purely from the perspective of farm profitability. We will explore current and emerging AI and AI-driven technologies with potential to enhance operational excellence, and in the process, improve farm profitability.
