MARSHALLTOWN — A four-session series, Women Marketing Grain, is being offered this March by Iowa State University Extension and Outreach in Marshall and Tama counties to assist women in learning how to market old- and new-crop corn and soybeans. Each of the four classes is three hours long, for a total of 12 contact hours for the course. The Women Marketing Grain Series is offered several times during the year at various locations in Iowa.

The local series starts March 5 at the Marshall County Extension and Outreach office in Marshalltown. The Marshall/Tama series will meet for four consecutive Tuesday evenings at 6:00 pm: March 5, 12, 19, and 26. A light meal will be served before each session at 5:30.

Registration deadline is February 23. Registration can be completed online at www.extension.iastate.edu/womeninag. Cost is $75. Contact Chelsea Llewellyn in Marshall County at 641-752-1551 or Cheryl Bruene in Tama County at 641-484-2703 for more information.

In the series, women learn how to manage price risk by using tools such as forward contracts, futures and options contracts, alternative marketing contracts, and crop insurance. Participants will learn to access online decision tools and develop a marketing plan. The women learn marketing strategies and how to stay on track for long-term marketing success.

According to ISU Extension and Outreach farm management specialist, Patrick Hatting, “At the end of the four sessions, participants will know more about identifying crop price trends and marketing costs,” he adds, “along with understanding price movements, using crop marketing tools, and developing a crop marketing plan with price, time and financial goals in mind.”