By Reagan Colyer, MSU News Service

BOZEMAN — A recent Montana State University graduate placed second in a national agricultural economics competition last month, the first MSU student to place in the program’s top three.

Molly DelCurto, who earned her master’s in applied economics from the College of Agriculture’s Department of Agricultural Economics and Economics this spring, was the runner-up in the Agriculture and Applied Economics Association’s Graduate Student Extension Competition. The competition asks graduate students to develop programs related to extension and outreach based on their research. The top three students receive cash awards.

DelCurto’s graduate research focused on a new element of federal crop insurance called the Pasture, Rangeland and Forage Insurance Program, which is administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Designed for ranchers and producers of forage and hay, the program insures rangeland acreage against low rainfall conditions and seeks to provide more financial stability to those producers who rely upon forages as feed for cattle and other livestock.

“Livestock producers have historically not used crop insurance, in part because it’s been targeted at larger commodity crops like wheat and corn,” said Kate Fuller, DelCurto’s mentor and an associate professor in the Department of Agricultural Economics and Economics. “It’s an index insurance, which means you insure based on a rainfall index that isn’t tied to your specific piece of property. We don’t have a lot of index insurance products in the U.S., which is what makes it so unique and complex.”

DelCurto’s thesis evaluated the PRF program and changes that have been made since its inception. For the AAEA competition, however, there was an additional element. She also created an educational program designed to help ranchers and producers around Montana understand and best utilize the insurance.

“This competition was a pretty neat opportunity,” DelCurto said. “The program gives grad students the chance to develop a plan to address a specific audience on an issue they’ve identified. You then build a program addressing that issue.”

DelCurto’s research into the PRF program uncovered a need for increased communication with producers who may benefit from the insurance.

“Because the PRF program is so new, one of the problems that has been found is that people just don’t know it’s available,” she said. “We wanted to be sure we got this information out there as much as we could.”

DelCurto worked with Fuller, who is also an MSU Extension specialist, to create and present educational materials to producers around Montana about the PRF program and how to best implement in real-life situations. She then presented her project, “To Insure or Not Insure? Spreading Awareness of the Pasture, Rangeland and Forage Insurance Program,” to a panel of judges from the AAEA, and was awarded second place in the nationwide competition earlier this month.

DelCurto is the first MSU graduate student to place in the top three of the competition. The winner was Katie Wilts from the University of Minnesota and the third-place recipient was Jose Enrique Velasco Ortiz of Purdue.

In addition to earning her recognition from the AAEA, Fuller said DelCurto’s work is a valuable resource for MSU Extension and regional producers. After earning her master’s, DelCurto accepted a position as a data analyst for the state of Montana’s Legislative Fiscal Division.

“Molly really became an expert on PRF and how it works,” said Fuller. “She’s reached a place where she can answer really technical, specific questions about the program while also being able to present a PRF 101 crash course for people who are really just getting started with thinking about insurance. She has become a really good resource for MSU Extension and for people around the state to answer questions, interface and educate the public on an important topic.”