By NANCY VORIS
Indiana Correspondent

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Farmers are anticipating the numbers coming from the USDA Prospective Plantings and Grain Stocks reports March 31. Hours after their release, Purdue University agriculture economists Corinne Alexander and Chris Hurt will provide analysis and market strategies for producers heading into the 2011 crop season.

The Prospective Plantings Outlook online “webinar” is set for 7-8:30 p.m. EST March 31 and can be viewed online or at 24 county offices of Purdue extension.
“When you look at grain markets across the board, we’re in a situation where we’ve got incredibly tight inventories and incredibly tight ending stocks,” Alexander said. “What that means is that the anticipated production for this coming summer is critically important in determining the value of the crops and what the prices of those crops are going to be.

“Any news in the market that shifts expectations on what U.S. farmers are going to plant is going to have a major impact on prices.”

The USDA surveys farmers every year before the start of spring planting on what they expect to plant and the number of acres they intend to dedicate to those crops. That information is the basis for the department’s planting report.
This year’s report promises to be pored over as much as any in recent memory, Alexander said. World stocks of principal grains are below traditional levels, sending crop prices skyrocketing in the past year. In any given year the difference between what farmers tell the USDA they intend to plant and what actually goes into the ground can shift by 5 million acres or more, she said.
During the webinar, Alexander and Hurt will give U.S. farmers an update on the information presented in the USDA reports, what it means for U.S. and world grain markets and the likely price impacts that are coming.

“In addition, we’re going to offer some strategies for pricing crops and, hopefully, capturing some of the revenue that will be offered by these markets,” Alexander said.

To watch the webinar live, log onto https://gomeet.itap.purdue.edu/march 31-2011outlook and just before the program begins, provide a name in the “Enter as a Guest” box and click “Enter Room.” The Adobe Connect webinar allows viewers to submit questions via a message box.

The 24 counties hosting the webinar are Adams, Bartholomew, Clark, Clay, Decatur, Gibson, Greene, Hancock, Harrison, Hendricks, Huntington, Lake, LaPorte, Parke, Pike, Rush, Shelby, Spencer, Steuben, Sullivan, Switzerland, Vermillion, Whitley and Vanderburgh.

For extension contacts in those locations, visit the Purdue extension county office Web page at www.ag.purdue.edu/extension/Pages/Counties.aspx and click on the appropriate county on the Indiana map.

The webinar will be archived for later viewing on the Purdue Department of Agricultural Economics website, located at www.agecon.purdue.edu