Proposed Outcomes

Proposed risk management outcomes are what you anticipate participants will learn, achieve, and apply through their participation in your project. At the end of your program delivery, the proposed risk management outcomes should put producers in a better position to manage their overall financial risk, and are the single most important factor the panel considers when deciding whether your project is funded. Do not confuse the actions your project team takes or materials they develop with the proposed risk management outcomes for producers.

This section will lead you through a series of steps and questions that will help you identify the anticipated risk management improvement for the producer. For each proposed risk management outcome, you will be asked to identify the risk area and the risk management topic (see list below), the producer action, and the number of producers you anticipate will achieve that action. Next, you will be asked to identify the method and/or tool that you will use to verify (measure) how many participants were able to accomplish the proposed risk management outcomes you listed in this section. Give careful consideration to the type of verification tool(s) that can most effectively measure the risk management accomplishments of the producers.

If you are uncertain about what defines agricultural risk, Introduction to Risk Management is an excellent source document that will help you understand the five risk categories associated with farm and ranch businesses (production, marketing, financial, legal, and human).

Refining your project outcomes: View the slides, view the recording

Entering Proposed Outcomes

Identify each risk management outcome that you want producers to understand, develop, or implement as a result of participating in your project. At the end of your program delivery, the proposed risk management outcomes should put producers in a better position to manage risk in order to improve their farm or ranch economic viability. (Word Limit per outcome: 25)

You are limited to a total of 6 outcomes.

Risk Area and Topic

The RVS organizes topics by risk area. For each proposed outcome, first select a risk area, and then choose a corresponding topic from the list provided (see list at end of this section).

Producer Action

Producer actions describe what program participants will do relative to the specific proposed outcome. There are three levels of producer actions which are listed in order of increasing producer engagement.

● Understand - learn, increase awareness, identify

● Develop - write, conduct, obtain, create

● Implement - adopt, establish, incorporate, initiate, use

You may have several producer actions for a component of your program. For example, a proposed outcome may be that producers will understand how to write a marketing plan with the producer action being “Understand”. You may have a second proposed outcome that producers will write a marketing plan with the producer action being “Develop”. Finally, you may have a third outcome that producers will implement their marketing plan with the producer outcome being “Implement”.

Estimated Number

Enter the estimated number of producers you expect to achieve the proposed outcome. This estimated number may vary based upon the level of producer engagement required.

When will you Verify

Select from the options available to indicate when you will verify this outcome. You may select as many as necessary. Ensure that the timing of the verification makes sense with the producer action to be achieved for each outcome. 

• Before Program

• During Program

• Immediately After Program

• Prior to End of Grant

How Will You Verify

Enter the method and/or tool that you will use to verify (measure) how many participants were able to accomplish the proposed risk management outcomes you listed in this section. Give careful consideration to the type of verification tool(s) that can most effectively measure the risk management accomplishments of the producers.

(Word Limit: 10)

Add New Outcome

To enter a new Proposed Outcome, click on Add New Item. The screen below will open, allowing you to enter or edit proposed outcomes. If “Add New Item” is not in color, then you have reached the maximum allowable proposed outcomes.

Re-Order Outcomes

The order in which the Proposed Outcomes are presented can be changed by clicking the icon on the left side and dragging a given outcome to its desired location. Once you have grabbed the icon and have moved your outcome to the proper location, a dashed line will appear, showing you where it will move.

Edit Outcome

Click on the blue pencil icon to edit a proposed outcome. 

Delete Outcome

Click on the red trash can button to delete a proposed outcome.

Risk Management Areas and Topics

The Proposed Outcomes section of the application asks you to identify a Risk Area and a Risk Management Topic for each Proposed Outcome from the following list. Definitions for each topic are provided to assist in finding the most appropriate topic area for your application.