- Employee Management Skills for Today: Planning for Success (pdf)
- Producer Attitudes, Assistance, and Time Allocation Affecting Farm Income (pdf)
- Average Crop Revenue Election (ACRE) for 2010 Factsheet (pdf)
- Choosing between ACRE and Counter-cyclical payments in 2010
(xls)
If they did not sign up in 2009, farmers have until June 1, 2010, to sign their farms up for the Average Crop Revenue Election (ACRE) program, the optional safety net for farmers provided in the 2008 Farm Bill. And farmers should pay close attention to this decision for 2010.
Current research results from University of Minnesota Extension tilt towards the decision to sign up in 2010. The decision in 2009 was a toss up as to whether ACRE or counter-cyclical payments (CCP) was a better bet.
Example calculations by Kent Olson, Professor in Applied Economics, point toward ACRE payments for corn, soybean and wheat in Minnesota, but this is not certain. There are many interrelated moving parts in this decision. To predict the probability of ACRE payments in the midst of uncertainty, Olson estimated the potential values and distributions of yields and prices for 2010 and combined them with the ACRE program’s rules in a statistical model. The results estimate potential state ACRE payment rates in Minnesota near $50 per acre for corn, $30 for soybeans, and $27 for wheat, with positive payment rates estimated to occur in more than 50 percent of the estimations. Actual payments to individual farms would depend on whether each farm had a loss under ACRE rules, the second trigger in the ACRE program. However, these are just estimates. The possibility of no payments also exists.
Farmers who did not sign up for ACRE in 2009 need to evaluate their specific conditions and payment limits and decide which program is the best option for them in 2010. Those who signed up for ACRE in 2009 cannot revoke this decision.
Further information for Minnesota farmers and an Excel worksheet for analyzing the choice between ACRE and counter-cyclical payments for 2010 is available in the two links above. Also, further information on ACRE and other FSA programs are available on FSA’s website at: www.fsa.usda.gov.
- Current Financial Situation: The Macro View (pdf)
The recession seems to be lifting but this is not completely clear at this time. These slides are from a recent talk by Kent Olson at the 2010 Spring Farm Management Update on March 24, 2010. The topics include a brief review of the causes of the recession, some measures that seem to indicate the economy is recovering, the prospects for the future, and some management points for farmers to deal with the current situation.
- 2012 Ag Income Tax Update for Farm Families (pdf)
- Farm Liquidation, Bankruptcy, and Debt Forgiveness (pdf)
- Interpreting Financial Statements and Measures (IFSaM)
The Center for Farm Financial Management has created an online video workshop series to help ag producers (and anyone who works with them) understand and use the 4 major financial statements and the 21 financial measures recommended by the Farm Financial Standards Council. IFSaM is a series of online videos that producers can work through at their own pace. Each session provides benchmarks, based on actual farms, that producers can use to evaluate their own financial position and their financial performance.
- What Does it Take to Earn a Living on the Farm? (pdf)
- Why Can't Agriculture Be Like it Was in the 1970's?(pdf)
- Weather-Related Livestock Sales
- Flexible Land Rental Agreements
- Flexible Land Rental Agreement Examples
- How the 2009 Federal Stimulus Package Will Affect Agriculture
- "Farm Decisions in the Current Economic Climate" by Kent Olson slides and text (pdf)
- Farm Bill Update: Conservation and Energy Programs (pdf)
- Minnesota Crop Cost & Return Guide - 2011 (pdf)
- Projected 2011 Crop Enterprise Budgets for Corn Grain, Soybeans, and
Wheat (xls)
- Cropland Rental Rates for Minnesota Counties (html and pdf)
- Interactive Tool for Land Purchase Decisions (xls)
- Annie's Project
- Crop Insurance Procedures for Delayed Harvest and Aflatoxin Damage (pdf)
- Interactive 2007 Tax Rate Worksheet & Estimator (xls) - 2007 Tax Rates and Brackets for Self-Employed Income in MN (filing MFJ) by Jim Kurtz, Regional Extension Educator
- Grain Marketing is Simple (it's just not easy) - a new book by Ed Usset, University of Minnesota Extension grain marketing specialist
- Federal Crop Insurance Dates, Definitions & Provisions (pdf)
- A Farm Bill for the Future:
The Safety Net (pdf)
- Farm Bill Prospects and the Changing Economics of Agriculture, 2007 Minnesota Chapter ASFMRA Summer Seminar slides in color & slides in black/white (pdf)
- [more articles]
