By DARRIN PACK
Purdue University

The Purdue Center for Commercial Agriculture will present a free webinar April 1 to provide farmers and agribusiness firms an updated 2015 crop outlook following release of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Grain Stocks and Prospective Plantings reports, both of which will be released March 31.

The webinar, “2015 Crop Outlook,” will be 9-10:30 a.m. EDT.

Presenters are Purdue University agricultural economists Chris Hurt, Corinne Alexander and Jim Mintert.

The USDA Planting Intentions report is expected to offer the first clear indication of what farmers across the country intend to plant this spring after record corn and soybean harvests last year led to large inventories and lower crop prices.

“There has been a lot of speculation this winter about a possible acreage shift from corn to soybeans,” Hurt said. “This report is the first piece of solid evidence of farmers’ actual intentions and provides us a realistic assessment of U.S. grain and oilseed production for 2015.”

Webinar panelists will give an updated outlook for grain and oilseed prices based in part on information gleaned from the USDA reports, and discuss marketing strategies farmers can use to manage price risks resulting from crop surpluses.

Registration is required for the free webinar. For more information, visit the Center for Commercial Agriculture’s website at https://www.agecon.purdue.edu/commercialag/.