A new analysis of 76 Minnesota sample farms doesn't provide much help in deciding whether farmers in the state should reallocate their base acres under the new farm bill, an agricultural economist says.
"We just don't see an indication either way. Farmers will have to do a little analysis themselves," says Kent Olson, University of Minnesota Extension economist who talked with Agweek late Friday afternoon. Details of the analysis will be released next week.
The decision on whether to reallocate base acres must be made by March 31.
Farmers also have until March 31 to decide between Agriculture Price Coverage and Price Loss Coverage. Both options, created by the federal farm bill approved in early 2014, provide financial help in tough economic times, but they do so in different ways. ARC protects against falling revenues; PLC provides payments when crop prices fall. To complicate matters further, ARC comes in two varieties: county and individual.
Farmers are locked in to the choice for five years.
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The new analysis, as expected, finds that ARC-County generally is the better choice for corn and soybeans in much of Minnesota, with PLC the better choice for wheat, production of which is concentrated in the northwest part of the state.
ARC-Individual appears to often, though not always, be the best choice for farmers with higher yields, and more variable yields, than the county average. Typically, ARC-Individual would hold appeal for fields with better soils located along rivers and prone to flooding, according to the analysis.
