ACRE On-Line

 The USDA’s Farm Service Agency in Idaho announced that new online research and planning tools are available for farmers and ranchers to assist them in examining how the new 2008 Farm Bill programs apply to their crops and operations.

 ACRE or the Average Crop Revenue Election Program, is a new revenue-based guarantee program that assists farmers and ranchers in managing their risks in agricultural operations. Growers enter their crops, acreages and price/yield projections in an ACRE on-line calculator to evaluate potential results.

 The calculator is a tool that can be used to determine which program will work best for the producer. Producers need to look carefully at all of their options before signing up for ACRE since producers are committed to the program for the life of the current farm bill, once they sign up.

 Ron Abbott, Farm Program Chief of USDA’s Farm Service Agency in Idaho: “If the farm revenue is below the farm guarantee, then he does get an ACRE payment. You have to hit both triggers. The state revenue must be down and the farm revenue must be down. So in effect, it’s an insurance policy for the farmer. Well, it’s perceived that way, it’s along the lines of the old counter-cyclical program and that’s what it’s designed to replace. But in the vernacular, it’s an insurance policy.”