Thank you, Mr. Chairman. It is indeed a pleasure to be with you here in New Orleans to talk about financing options.

The title of my talk as you see is "Innovative Producer Financing Options." Webster's Dictionary tells me that innovative means "to do something in a new way." I'm not here today to tell you that I have discovered something new, but rather to explore the possibilities of and reasons for using several financing options available in agriculture today.

What are the basic reasons for a producer seeking innovation? First, the producer may be unable to obtain adequate financing from his current source. Secondly, the producer may want to increase profit. The third reason may be that the producer wants to increase cash flow. Forth and finally, producers may want to seek new ways of financing to manage risk.