Updated November 16, 2012

Game Notes: Launch Your Pre-Harvest Marketing Plan 2012/2013

Once the software has been installed, you can run it by clicking on "Start" then Programs | Winning the Game (State Name) | Market Plan Simulation.

The first screen allows you to select the crop, year, and harvest basis to play (please ignore the soybean and wheat games as they have not been updated). The "Practice" year is for the first run-through when the presenter demonstrates how to play the game. If you follow the corn-marketing plan as presented in the material, all the corn games are a mix of price-targetsand date-targets in their implementation. All the games start in the low $4.00 range and are synthetic.

After the data loads, you must click over to the Futures or Options tab before you can set any watches. Also, maximize the window so the game fills the screen (click the "Maximize" icon in the upper right corner just to the left of the "X").

Once you have finished the “Practice” year, you must exit the program and re-start it to run the game again for the participants to play.

The simulations are based on real years. This is not important for the audience to know, but in case you are wondering, here are the corn game years and multipliers. Multipliers were used to make the games relevant to a marketing plan that starts with $4.00 December futures and works its way up to about $4.75.

  • Practice Year, 2000, multiply 1.8
  • Corn A, 1997, multiply 1.6
  • WTG5 Tool Time, 1996, multiply 1.4

Be forewarned that the adjustment factor can result in a few options quotes that seem wrong, e.g. a 400 call costing 35 cents and a 410 call costing 34 cents (when it should be higher than 35 cents). Our programmers have done an outstanding job of adapting the game and prices to the current environment, but we’ve learned that options are not easily adjusted. The problems are minimal and will only be noticed by the sharpest of game players. I intend to deal with discrepancies by telling the audience that “Each game is based on a real year, adjusted to current price levels. Options are not easily adjusted so a few pricing foibles will occur with the premiums.”

Before you start, don’t forget to review the screen for the participants…

  • Date in upper left
  • Nearby futures, basis, and a harvest cash bid on the top row
  • Graph is for the previous two months
  • Black open/high/low/close line is the nearby futures contract
  • Red and blue lines are moving averages of the futures price

Before moving forward in the game, you can show the scorecard transparencies where participants record their actions.

Like all games, you must poll the group for the first date, price, etc. and set items on the “Watch” tab. It helps move the game along if folks pick target prices on the nickels and dimes, and decision dates on the 15th and 30th.