2020SP ABM 4972
Agri-Food Business & Cooperative Management

Risk management in the global agrifood chain, including managing the unique uncertainties of biological production processes, global market analysis, and government intervention, of risk management tools and institutions unique to strategic decision making in agribusiness and cooperative firms.

This three hour course reviews the generic types of risk (biological production process, market structure imperfections, etc.) faced by global agribusiness. Alternative risk management tools are presented as presently employed by agribusiness managers. The use of institutional structures developed to ameliorate these risks (market orders, government regulations, futures markets, etc.) is examined. The course concludes with an intensive review and analysis of agricultural cooperatives as a risk management tool. The class works with CEOs and Board Members permitting students the opportunity to apply conceptual tools to real world agribusiness and cooperative decision making.