One of the most interesting parts of my MAB cohort make up is the number of farmers, farmer-spouses and children of farmers in the group. It's a great benefit when we're studying agriculture issues and learning about the economics of agribusiness and production farming.
The perspective they provide and the experiences they share help to enrich the discussions and make the concepts all the more applicable. Not everyone has the direct ties to a working farm, but those who do are glad to share their experiences and it seems those who don't have the ties are glad to listen and learn something new.
I've been thinking about those classmate farmers more this fall; we're close to completing the Risk Management course. Most row crop farmers in the U.S. have battled weather this year in one way or another. Many of them have faced increased input costs and volatile commodity markets.
I know several of my classmates are dealing with a later harvest on their family's farm. It's an especially busy time for all of them -- but it's nice to have them in the program, too, reminding all of us how close we live and work to our industry of Agribusiness.
