New U of I Extension educator of risk management

By John O’Connell

University of Idaho

MOSCOW, Idaho – A recent graduate of University of Idaho’s master’s program in applied economics has joined the faculty as an area Extension educator of risk management.

Colby Field started working within the university’s Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology as an assistant professor in late May, just a couple of weeks after receiving his degree.

He will be based in Moscow and will also serve a statewide Extension appointment, helping food producers manage their risks.

Field has an extensive background in agriculture, which he believes will help him relate to the needs and concerns of Idaho farmers.

“I come from a long family line of people who were either farmers, or teachers or both,” he said.

Field earned bachelor’s degrees from Montana State University, double majoring in agricultural business and economics. He then went to work at Columbia Grain in Lewiston, Wash., where he trained to manage a crop elevator.

After gaining valuable experience in the grain transportation industry, he accepted another job as assistant manager of a farm on the Palouse in June 2019. He worked full time on the farm until the fall of 2022 when he enrolled in graduate school at U of I, wanting to share his skills with farmers throughout the state. 

“I have a background from the other side of what farmers are looking for. What are the resources they need?” Field said. “One of the assets I bring is knowing what day-to-day operations are – knowing about the seasonality of farm work and what farmers are concerned about with the costs of things and the challenges in agriculture.”

As a master’s student, Field was involved in research analyzing markets and consumer sentiments regarding plastics made from dairy manure.

He and his colleagues found no significant difference in consumer acceptance of biodegradable plastics made from dairy manure compared with other biological sources such as wood waste or crops.

“There seems to be a willingness to pay there that was not insignificant,” Field said. “We found that people are concerned about plastic’s impacts on the environment.”

While at U of I, Field also studied using the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) as an alternative to rainfall insurance.

Ranchers may protect themselves from lost forage due to drought by purchasing rainfall insurance, but enrolling acres in CRP, which pays growers to plant marginal farmland to benefit wildlife rather than for harvest, may also offer protection under certain circumstances.

During drought declarations, restrictions on grazing or haying CRP land may be eased or waived, providing ranchers an emergency feed source.

“Most people when they look at risk management think of traditional crop insurance,” Field said. “I have more interest in non-traditional risk management.”

As an undergraduate, Field researched how the expansion of pulse elevators and rail shipping in Montana affected markets for farmers. He also evaluated how a port strike in Portland affected wheat prices in Montana, as well as elsewhere in the region.

Generally, producers can reduce their risk level by diversifying their operations. However, they can increase their profit margins by specializing in one commodity, achieving greater economies of scale and spreading their fixed costs over more acres.

Other areas of emphasis for Field will include helping to revitalize Extension farm succession programs, helping to prepare enterprise budgets on production costs of major Idaho commodities and exploring the economics of various production practices and farm-management decisions.