The New York Board of Trade and Cotton Incorporated, in cooperation with Plains Cotton Growers, Inc., will sponsor a basic and intermediate level hedging with options workshop for cotton producers April 17 at the Holiday Inn Hotel and Towers at Lubbock.

Workshop topics include:

· Why are options on cotton futures critical to your business?

· What can options do for you and how?

· Actionable hedging strategies based on various price scenarios.

· Market Outlook.

Judith Ganes-Chase and Eric Matsen will discuss when and how to use a variety of option strategies, including fences, 3-ways, and calendar back spreads.

John Robinson, Texas A&M University economist, will examine the production cost outlook. Cotton marketing specialist O.A. Cleveland will provide a market outlook and Kelli Merritt, CropMark, Inc., Lamesa, Texas, will discuss hedging counter-cyclical payments. Mike Stevens, cotton specialist with Swiss Financial, will discuss practical applications.

The workshop begins at 8:00 am and concludes at 5:00 pm. Attendance is free, including lunch, but sponsors request participants register to reserve a seat.

For more information or to register for the workshop contact Raquel Allen at (212) 748-4094, rallen@nybot.com, or Kay Wriedt (919) 678-2271 or kwriedt@cottoninc.com.