Small Town News

Evaluate farm situation before deciding on ACRE

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With recent crop price declines, farmers have become more interested in whether or not they should sign up for the Average Crop Revenue Election (ACRE) program. And they are right to be more interested. Farmers have until Aug. 14, 2009, to elect and enroll their farms in either the ACRE program or the Direct and Counter-cyclical Program (DCP) program for their 2009 crop.

For corn and soybeans, current average price and yield projections for the 2009-10 marketing year and the 2009 crop put potential actual state revenue for corn and soybeans essentially equal to the almost final state ACRE guarantees. If the actual is equal to or more than the guarantee, the State payment rate for ACRE would be zero. However, my estimates show that it doesn't take much of a price drop to have an ACRE payment rate that would cover the required 20 percent in direct payments (DP).

For wheat, the forecast wheat price for 2009-10 indicates a high likelihood that the potential ACRE payment will be greater than the required 20 percent reduction in direct payments. Any farmer with wheat needs to give serious consideration to signing up for ACRE instead of DCP and watch which direction price forecasts move before Aug. 14.

This decision is not an obvious choice for corn and soybeans but it is becoming clearer, especially for wheat, as we learn more about where yields and prices may be for the 2009 crop and the 2009-10 crop marketing year. Under ACRE program rules, the revenue guarantees are being set fairly high for Minnesota due to good yields and high prices in recent years. But since forecast prices for 2009-10 are also quite high and Minnesota crop conditions are good for the 2009 crop (from a statewide perspective), actual revenue in Minnesota may not be low enough to trigger an ACRE payment large enough to counter the required 20 percent reduction in direct payments (DP). In Minnesota, the highest chance of an ACRE payment being made is for wheat. For corn and soybeans, the choice lies in great part on whether prices for the 2009-10 year will be lower than current forecasts, not what prices are doing right now, but what we think prices will be for the entire 2009-10 marketing year.

Especially due to the closeness of this decision, every farmer needs to evaluate their own conditions and payment limits and decide whether the ACRE or DCP program is the best option for their farm in 2009. Further information for Minnesota farmers and an Excel worksheet for analyzing the choice between ACRE and CC payments is available in the 2008 Farm Bill section at www.extension.umn.edu/agbusinessmanagement. Also, further information on the ACRE and other FSA programs are available at local or State FSA offices or on FSA's website at: www.fsa.usda.gov. University of Minnesota Extension



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© 2009 Winthrop News Winthrop, Minnesota. All Rights Reserved. This content, including derivations, may not be stored or distributed in any manner, disseminated, published, broadcast, rewritten or reproduced without express, written consent from DAS.

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