Events were held in the following Utah locations: Tooele, Smithfield, and Brigham City (Box Elder High School).  

 Ryan Mangus presented “Crop Insurance Education for Utah's Beginning Producers” using a PowerPoint presentation and an Excel-based risk management/crop insurance simulation tool.  The content focused on basic risk management and crop insurance principles, with all attendees learning how crop insurance can be an important tool for managing agricultural risk.  Attendees were first taught general principles of risk and risk management.  The presenters then explained how crop insurance can be an effective mechanism for transferring away some agricultural production and pricing risks.  Attendees next learned about Federal Crop Insurance Programs available in Utah, including RMA’s Forage and Livestock Risk Protection (LRP) Programs. 

To illustrate the challenges of managing risk and the role of Federal Crop Insurance Programs in agricultural risk management, attendees participated in an interactive learning simulation that illustrated uncertainty and risk in a simulated Utah ranching operation.  The outcomes of the game varied by student depending on uncontrollable chance and the risks chosen by a given student over a simulated six-year period.