MK100 Marketing Library Guide

This library contains lessons about market planning. It also includes basic information about how futures and options work, as well as the use of futures and options in marketing farm commodities.

Provide a "real world" marketing experience

Combining AgEdNet.com with internet resources is especially useful when teaching the complex world of marketing agricultural products. The availability of up-to-date prices and market news provides many opportunities for the classroom. This information is very useful when incorporated into AgEdNet.com lessons. It makes them dynamic and more relevant to the students.

Many teachers have their students "paper trade" commodities of interest to help them develop an understanding of how the markets work and the factors that affect them. They access prices daily to track price movement and check advisory and/or market commentary reports to help plan strategies.

Developing a marketing plan is extremely important to the success of any producer. Having access to current information allows students and teachers to develop a marketing plan, follow it through and analyze its success.

Possible activities and projects to use with marketing lessons:

• Give students a set amount of grain and/or livestock and have them "sell" it over a 3-month period.
• Make students buy or sell a futures or options contract on paper and follow it to see how much they would have made or lost.
• Have students construct a bar chart, or follow charts on a data service, and then write down the factor(s) that made the market move.
• Assign students to write up a market advisory newsletter for the next week, then see how close they come to being accurate.
• Prepare budgets with the price information on the network.
• Construct a basis chart for different elevators or terminals that buy grain from farmers in your area.
• Using AgEd Today and other news items, have students write copy for a farm radio program covering market news and prices. Have students do "broadcasts" as class activities.
• Have students make up a small farm newspaper covering farm markets.

Suggestions for using AgEdNet.com lessons:

1. Lesson format: AgEdNet.com lessons follow a similar lesson format and include student lesson text, exercises, assessment and teacher's guide. LEARN MORE.
2. Lesson extras include matching with National AFNR standards, internet resources, worksheets, PowerPoints, vocabulary crossword puzzles, glossaries and a search engine. LEARN MORE.

Photo credit: Staff photo by Nancy Crombie.