SAN ANGELO — Travis Booher has been named to the newly-created District 7 position of risk management specialist with the Texas Agricultural Extension Service. He is headquartered at the Texas A&M University Agricultural Research and Extension Center here.
Booher’s primary job responsibility is assisting agricultural producers with risk management decisions through the newly-expanded Financial and Risk Management Assistance (FARM Assistance) program. FARM Assistance is a major component of Extension’s Texas Risk Management Education Program that was funded by the Texas Legislature in 1997.
“The program gives producers the ability to analyze their farm and ranch operation to gain information for long-term strategic planning decisions,” said Booher. “It’s a one-of-a-kind decision support system that helps farmers and ranchers weigh the economic consequences they may encounter from various risk management strategies before they actually take the risk.
“FARM Assistance is designed to be flexible enough to handle all types of crop and livestock operations or combinations. One of its unique features is its ability to divide an operation into multiple units with a profit and loss statement for each unit. This gives producers specific information on the profitability of certain lease arrangements, cow herds or crops.”
Booher holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in agricultural economics from Texas A&M University.
The new specialist previously worked for Koch Industries, Wichita, Kansas; Frontier Risk Management, Inc., Chicago, Ill.; and Texas A&M University’s department of agricultural economics at College Station.
While at Koch Industries, he was involved in cattle procurement, business and marketing of fresh and processed meats, and in fresh beef marketing and sales.
While employed by Frontier Risk Management, Booher participated in a pilot program sponsored by the Chicago Mercantile Exchange that provided futures education and training.
At Texas A&M University, Booher aided in graduate and undergraduate agricultural economics instruction. He also developed and conducted an agricultural loan demand survey for the Texas Department of Agriculture under the guidance of the Texas Agricultural Finance Authority. The research was designed to identify potential credit gaps for Texas agricultural producers and agribusinesses.
Producers interested in learning more about the FARM Assistance Program can contact Booher at (915) 653-4576 or they can look at the Texas Risk Management Education Program Internet site at trmep.tamu.edu. For a fee of $250 per year, a farmer or rancher will get an analysis of their base situation projected up to 10 years in the future and two alternatives. A personal report detailing the results will be completed and explained by Booher in a follow-up session with the individual client.
-30-