By Mary Hightower
Fast facts
- Co-developer of Farm Bill decision aid to offer five demos, four in-person
- Feb. 4 features webinar and in-person demonstration at Lonoke
- Feb. 5 features webinar and in-person demonstration at Stuttgart
- Feb. 6 demonstration in person at Jonesboro and ASU Newport
- For info: contact Robert Coats, 501-671-2195
- Demos are part of a wider schedule of education sessions to run through March
Two more locations and times have been added to the schedule of in-person demonstrations of the web-based Farm Bill decision aid by one of its creators.
The new schedule now includes in-person demos at Lonoke and Newport.
Leading the demonstrations is James Richardson, co-director of the Agricultural and Food Policy Center at Texas A&M. The center, along with the Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute at the University of Missouri, were awarded a grant by the USDA to develop the decision aid.
The five demonstrations are:
- Feb. 5, 9 a.m. – webinar. Participants may register using this link: https://uaex.zoom.us/webinar/register/c6ed14053234bd3e4ac87b605f06faf5.
- Richardson will have a 2014 Farm Bill Decision Aid Training Session
- Larry McMaster, USDA-Risk Management Agency, Jackson, Mississippi, Regional Office will discuss the Crop Insurance - Stacked Income Protection Plan (STAX) for Upland Cotton.
- Feb. 4, 5:30 p.m. – In-person demonstration, Lonoke, Lonoke Community Center.
- Feb. 5, 2 p.m. – In-person demonstration, Stuttgart, Grand Prairie Center.
- Feb. 6, 8 a.m. – In-person demonstration, Jonesboro. NE Arkansas Fairgrounds.
- Feb. 6, noon – In-person demonstration, Newport, ASU Newport.
The decision aid has been vetted by Farm Service Agency and counts more than 20,000 users from across the United States. The web-based decision aid provides easy data entry and management by farmers to answer these and other questions:
- Will my payment yield increase if I certify my yields with Farm Service Agency?
- What are my potential base acres if I reallocate base?
- What is the economic benefit (expected payments) if I reallocate my base acres?
- Should I sign up all of my crops in the same program: Price Loss Coverage, PLC, or Agricultural Risk Coverage, ARC?
- Should I elect PLC or ARC on different farm numbers and for different crops?
- How can I assign or deploy my generic (formally cotton) base acres?
- Should I buy Supplemental Coverage Option, or SCO, if I elect PLC on each crop?
- Should I change my underlying crop insurance coverage?
- What is my most profitable crop insurance policy and level of coverage for each crop?
- Should I buy SCO or STAX for my cotton?
source:uaex.edu