October 14: 2 hours (9 AM Pacific, 10 AM Mountain, 11 AM Central, 12 noon, Eastern)

Elaine Froese will explore roadblocks to effective communication and keys for families to communicate around tough issues. Communication, if it existed before a crises, is often the first thing to go when stress hits.  Effective communication within the family unit is a critical component for successfully working through any crises. 
Jeff Tranel will discuss the interplay of family expenses and farm business finances and the additional problems these issues create in times of financial stress. He will touch on some of the keys to working though the family/business financial interchange and will recommend resources to help families tackle this issue.
Michael Rosmann will cover behavioral health support to the agricultural population. He will provide some thoughts on the important emotional and mental health components of dealing with a financial crises and provide helps for those of us who are not mental health professionals in working with families caught in a financial bind.

 To Participate Live in the Webinars: (no pre-registration is required – first come – 500 seats available)
• Equipment you will need: A computer that has a set of speakers and a high speed internet connection (LAN, DSL/Cable Modem, High speed wireless).
• Web link used for the entire series:
http://www.msuextensionconnect.org/aginuncertaintimes/
• This web link opens a screen that has the “Enter as a Guest” option selected.  Use this option and enter your name and then click on the “Enter Room” button.
• The start time for all webinars in this series is 9:00 am Pacific Daylight time.  Please log on a few minutes early to view information about how to ask presenters questions and to make sure your audio is working. 

Prior to the meeting date and time, test your computers ability to communicate with the system we will use.  Visit the link below and then click on the "Test Your Internet Connectivity" link on the right hand edge of this page.  Follow the instructions provided.

http://www.farmmanagement.org/aginuncertaintimes/

Presenters Brief Descriptions (Complete bios are found at http://www.farmmanagement.org/aginuncertaintimes/)

Dave Goeller, an Extension Economist at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, began his Extension experience working with farm and ranch families during the ag crises of the 80’s.  His work has focused since on assisting agricultural producers experiencing “financial difficulties” to work through their problems and evaluate their options, providing business succession and estate planning alternatives and transfer strategies for the “Ownership” generation, and assisting beginning farmers and ranchers develop a plan to enter the field of production agriculture.

Jay Gordon is Executive Director of the Washington State Dairy Federation and a dairy farmer.

Elaine Froese (http://www.elainefroese.com/) is an expert in helping family businesses talk about tough issues. She's a catalyst for courageous conversations for positive farm succession planning. Like many of her clients, Elaine is an active farmer and  she watches the sky. Her common sense and down to earth style of communicating and asking hard questions is deeply appreciated by folks who find it hard to ask for help. Elaine also mediates for the Farm Debt Mediation Service.

Michael Rosmann is a clinical psychologist and the executive director of AgriWellness, Inc., a nonprofit organization that provides behavioral health support to the agricultural population in seven upper Midwestern states.  Dr. Rossman also works to address the behavioral health care needs of agricultural populations and communities and to provide education about these needs.

Jeff Tranel is an Agricultural and Business Management Economist with Colorado State University Extension and Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics. His professional interests focus primarily in farm and family financial management, risk management, accounting and record keeping, income taxes, and water management. His involvment with farm families in financial stress began during the farm crises of the 80’s.

Norm Dalsted, Professor of Agricultural Economics, Colorado State University, has a number of years of experience  helping families work through Chapter 11 and Chapter 12 reorganizations.

Ruth Hambleton, Founder of Annie’s Project and president of Annie’s Project—Education for Farm Women, empowering farm women to be better business partners through networks and by managing and organizing critical information, retired after 30 plus years with University of Illinois Extension. She is a farmer’s daughter and married a farmer. Ruth and her husband of 31 years raised three children on a 40 acre hog, beef and hay farm.  Ruth is working with her sister and two brothers to help their father manage his 320 acres of farmland in north central Illinois.

Robert Fetsch is an Extension Specialist and Professor in the Department of Human Development & Family Studies at Colorado State University and is the director of the Colorado AgrAbility Project. He was raised on a small dairy farm. He has been working with farm and ranch families to assist them in improving their communication skills since 1985.
 

The Ag in uncertain times . . . webinar series runs through December with
• Families facing uncertainty in agriculture, October 7, 14, 20, and 21
• Operating in risky environments, November 4, 11, and 18
• Pulling it all together: Managing Ag Enterprises in Uncertain times, December 2, 9, and 16

All webinars and slide presentations from the June and September series are available for viewing at  http://www.farmmanagement.org/aginuncertaintimes/. All slides presentations for the current series are posted on the day of the webinar on this same website.

For additional information email, westrme@wsu.edu or call  509-477-2196.
 
Extension programs and employment are available to all without discrimination.
Evidence of noncompliance may be reported through your local Extension office. your local Extension office.

Jon Newkirk, Extension Economist and Western Center Director
Washington State University Extension
Western Center for Risk Management Education
222 N Havana
Spokane, WA  99202
jnewkirk@wsu.edu