Mark Gold, a 20-year member of the Chicago Board of Trade who also has his own agriculture-related radio shows, will be the guest speaker when the Highland County Chamber of Commerce holds its seventh annual Ag is Everyone’s Business event Friday, Feb. 8 at the Southern State Community College Patriot Center in Hillsboro.
Gold, from Top Third Ag Marketing, will lead participants in an educational seminar covering topics such as why prices are so cheap, how to use options to manage risk, and how to improve marketing skills to survive and thrive in 2019.
“He’s more like an economist and with the current situation going on with low prices for crops and grains, we thought we needed to bring in someone who knew more about marketing skills and risk management, so those attending could come and really get an education with information they can use every day in business and farming,” said Erin Sheeley with the Highland County Chamber of Commerce.
At the end of Gold’s “The Light at the End of the Tunnel” presentation, those in attendance will get a chance to ask him questions about the coming year in agriculture.
Gold is a former 20-year member of the Chicago Board of Trade, where he was a pit trader and floor broker. During his time on the floor he served as chairman of the Soybean Pit Committee and on the Public Relations Committee. As managing partner of Top Third Ag Marketing, Gold can be heard daily on Nebraska radio station KRVN and Kansas radio station KFRM. He also appears as a regular guest analyst on the U.S Farm Report and Ag Day TV, and his twice daily audio grain marketing comments are featured on AgWeb.
Doors for Ag Is Everyone’s Business open at 7:30 a.m. Breakfast will be served from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m., then Gold will take the podium.
Sheeley said the breakfast will be buffet style, served by Highland County FFA students, and catered by the same group as in past years.
Tickets are $20 and can be purchased in person at the Scott House, 338 W. Main St., Hillsboro; by visiting www.thehighlandchamber.com; or by calling 937-393-1111 or toll free at 1-866-967-8167. They can also be purchased inside any Hillsboro branch of Merchants National Bank, Merchants National Bank in Greenfield, First State Bank in Hillsboro or Southern Hills Community Bank in Leesburg or Greenfield. There is a small service fee for online and telephone orders.
The price of the ticket includes breakfast, and attendees will walk away with a spiral bound workbook containing the information covered by Gold, Sheeley said.
Tickets will be available the day of the event at the door for $25.
As in past years, there will likely be a pedal tractor auction at the conclusion of the program, but Sheeley said those plans are still in the works.
Reach Jeff Gilliland at 937-402-2522.
