Agricultural Advisory Committee Meeting, October 2, 1996

The CFTC's Agricultural Advisory Committee (AAC), Chaired by Commissioner Joseph B. Dial, will hold its next meeting on Wednesday, October 2, 1996, from 1:00 to 5:00 p.m. The meeting, the AAC's 22nd, will be held at the CFTC's Washington headquarters, Three Lafayette Center, 1155 21st Street N.W., in the ground floor hearing room.

The central theme of the AAC's 22nd meeting will be the need for, and the importance of, risk management education programs for U.S. agricultural producers. The program will encompass presentations from a variety of sources, including:

• Reports from AAC members concerning the risk management education programs maintained by their respective organizations;
• An update from Kenneth Ackerman, Administrator of USDA's Risk Management Agency (RMA), concerning RMA's education program mandated by Section 192 of the Federal Agricultural Improvement and Reform (FAIR) Act;
• A report from USDA's Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service on their new educational initiative entitled, "Managing Change in Agriculture;" and
• A presentation by Dr. Scott Irwin of Ohio State University, on "A Financial Engineering Approach to Risk Management of Farm Firms."

Dr. Irwin will also report to the Committee on his ongoing research project entitled, "A Study of the Performance of Agricultural Market Advisory Services.''

Exchange representatives will brief the Committee on recently designated agricultural contracts, including the New York Cotton Exchange's Potato Futures and option contract, and the Butter Futures and option contracts offered by both the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and the Coffee, Sugar and Cocoa Exchange. CFTC staff members will update the Committee on audit trail and hedge-to- arrive contract issues.

The AAC was created by the CFTC for the purpose of giving advice to the Commission concerning agricultural issues. A list of the AAC's member organizations is attached.

For further information about the AAC meeting, contact Kimberly Harter at (202) 418-5050.