A Land Resource Review focuses on key factors affecting the sustainable use of land resources such as soil erosion, water quality, land use, farming systems and resource management. Dean Smith, PFRA, Regina, Sask. An innovative new simulator is helping farmers get their feet wet in futures markets without running the risk of getting soaked. Futures and options are good tools for locking in prices and managing returns, and while some farmers have been using them for years, others have shied away out of fear the commodity market is too complicated and risky. AAFC's new online Futures Market Simulator is designed to allow farmers to experiment with markets in a realistic, but completely risk-free environment.
Farmers can practice on actual futures and option trading using real historical data.
It features a wide-range of commodities and risk management strategies and help is available at the click of a mouse. The simulator also allows the user to work with the price of the commodity grown and the U.S. dollar simultaneously, and replicates a real margin brokerage account so farmers can gauge cash-flow requirements to make similar trades in the actual market.