Posted April 28, 2014
Texas A&M is developing a “crop policy decision aid instrument” to assist farmers in determining which new farm program option will fit best with a particular farm or crop, according to an article by Farm Futures available here. The tool will also analyze crop insurance options.
“It’s not finished yet,” says Joe Outlaw, co-director, Agricultural and Food Policy Center, and professor and Extension economist at Texas A&M University. “A lot still depends on decisions from the Farm Service Agency (FSA).”
Outlaw applauded Extension economist Henry Bryant for developing the decision aid, saying “He’s been working on it for close to two years…It’s still under construction but is mostly finished.”
Currently the program only applies to Texas, but it could develop further for other states. The program will be fairly simple to operate: “A farmer creates an account with an email address and a password, which he can save if he wants to preserve the data entered. With that information saved, he will get updates through email every time a rule change is implemented.”
Farmers will have “simple boxes” to enter FSA farm numbers, crop, county crop yield averages, practices, base acres, average production history and other data. Once all the information is entered, “they work through the program to determine if Price Loss Coverage (PLC) or Agricultural Risk Coverage (ARC) will work best for a specific crop or farm.”
The tool will also be available for STAX and the Supplemental Coverage Option (SCO), including premium costs.
For more information on crop insurance programs, please visit the National Agricultural Law Center’s website here.
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