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Still Unsure About
Your Farm Bill Decisions
By Sam Custer
OSU Extension, Darke County
Top New Year’s resolutions typically include pledges to lose weight,
exercise more, get organized or quit smoking.
But one New Year’s resolution farmers and farm land owners may want to
include on their list is to make sure they understand all of the
factors they should consider before making decisions about crop
programs offered as part of the 2014 farm bill, according to a farm
policy expert with Ohio State University’s College of Food,
Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences.
That’s especially true this year, because farm bill commodity programs
have the potential to make significant payments for the first time in
several years due to low prices and revenue for corn, soybeans and
wheat, says Carl Zulauf, an agricultural economics professor and farm
policy expert in the college.
While these payments are not a given, if they materialize they could
help farmers and land owners transition during this period of low crop
prices and revenues by the standard of the past eight years, Zulauf
said.
“Understanding the questions one should ask is always important, as it
is hard to get to the best answer if the question is wrong,” he said.
“But the questions are even more important when uncertainty is sizable,
such as with the farm bill commodity program choice decision.
“You’ve got to think about the programs, what they offer, and what
matches your farm. Every farm is unique, so you have to really think
about how the decisions will impact your individual farm needs.”
To help frame their decisions, Zulauf offers a series of questions
landowners and farmers should ask online at
go.osu.edu/farmbillquestions. They’re based on the following topics:
Farm Yield Update Decision
Program (Base) Acre Reallocation Decision
Farm Program Choice Decision
Insurance Decisions
Some of the questions Zulauf discusses include:
What is the difference between your current program acres and
reallocated program acres?
Should the reasonably well-known 2014 crop year payments have a higher
weight in your decision than uncertain payments for later years?
If you have multiple Farm Service Agency (FSA) farms, should program
choice be diversified across FSA farms?
Does the Agriculture Risk Coverage Individual Farm Coverage (ARC-IC)
fit my farm?
Zulauf spoke on this issue during the Dec. 1 meeting of the 2014-2015
Agricultural Policy and Outlook Conference Series.
The event kicked off the statewide agriculture policy and outlook
meetings, which will go on through Jan. 29 at numerous locations across
Ohio. The meetings will feature presentations by CFAES experts on key
issues in the agricultural community for 2015, including policy changes
and market behavior with respect to farm, food and energy resources,
and the environment.
The county meetings are open to the public. A meal is provided with
each meeting and is included in the registration cost. More information
on the meetings, including policy briefs and presentation files from
each of the presenters, is available at aede.osu.edu/policy-outlook.
In addition to the January 5 Outlook meeting in Darke County, OSU
Extension Darke County and the Darke County FSA will host another
meeting on February 11.
For more information about OSU Extension, Darke County, visit the Darke
County OSU Extension web site at www.darke.osu.edu, the OSU Extension
Darke County Facebook page or contact Sam Custer, at 937.548.5215.
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