Lessons on how to work with family members on a farm, how to gift grain and livestock to receive tax benefits and how to manage risk in an uncertain world to how to boost farm income with agritourism were shared during this year's Agriculture Outlook Seminar and Appreciation Luncheon.
The event was held at the Wayne Fire Hall and organized by the Wayne Area Ag Task Force.
Following a welcome by Doug Temme, Hanah Borg with Borg Family Farms shared information on how she came to come back to the farm and be involved in poultry raising.
She told her audience that it has been a challenge to develop a balance between family and employer relationships. She talked about the learning curve she has gone through learning how to raise chickens for Lincoln Premium Poultry.
She stressed how much she enjoyed being on the farm and the opportunities
A presentation from Bill Dickey with the Legacy Fund involved the benefits of gifting grain and livestock.
He shared information on the Wayne Area Legacy Fund and said in the last five years the group has been able to award $50,000 in grants in the community.
He also told the ag producers in the audience about the process of gifting grain and livestock through the Nebraska Community Foundation (which the Wayne Area Legacy Fund operates under) and tax benefits that may be available.
Jay Parsons with Nebraska Extension talked about risks management in agriculture operations. He noted that risks take the form of many things, from financial, to the lose of an employee.
Strategies for avoiding risk were also presented. These include avoiding it, transferring it, controlling it or accepting it.
The final speaker of the morning was Karen Kollars with the Nebraska Tourism Commission. She said agritourism is "the intersection of agriculture and tourism" and shared examples such as visits to a working farm, recreation or lodging and said "the best part is people are willing to pay for their experiences."
She encouraged those in attendance to use resources at hand to add additional income to their farming operation and discussed such things as farmer's markets, corn mazes and other options as opportunities to help promote agriculture.
Each of the presenters for the day was introduced by a member of the Wayne FFA Chapter, which was also recognized as a recipient of a grant from the Wayne Area Legacy Fund.
Following the morning informational sessions, lunch was served and those in attendance had the opportunity to visit with and ask questions of the presenters.
