02/07/08 Good times can mean bad decisions

Farm and Ranch February 7, 2008 Farmers and ranchers attending the Pacific Northwest Farm Forum in Spokane this week were told by Jay Pennick of Northwest Farm Credit Services that you can expect a lot of mistakes over the next 12 months. Pennick says history shows that producers make more bad decisions during good times than bad times, and given current high commodity prices these are good times. Pennick: "During these good times they have the opportunity to make a lot of decisions. Whether that's additional land, whether that is growth in their operation, whether that is buying real estate or equipment. And some of those decisions can look pretty tough if the current economics don't carry on into the future. And historically in agriculture really high prices are followed by some pretty tough prices. So you need to make sure you are keeping yourself in balance whether it's you debt-to-asset, whether it is your acreage, whether it is your ability to manage. All of those things in the good times so that can you can weather what we know will be some return to normalcy in the future." Pennick says the test of a new farm bill will come when commodity prices fall and we see if support levels are adequate for the increased input costs producers have. I'm Bob Hoff and that's the Northwest Farm and Ranch Report on the Northwest Ag Information Network.