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Planting Decision Model
With this program, the user can: 1) estimate the costs of planting corn and soybeans by planting date, 2) estimate the net returns from replanting, 3) prevented planting payments, and…
Quick Cash Flow Projections
Farm Projection Tool
This program calculates per-acre budgets for different crops and a whole farm budget and includes breakevens. Projected financial statements and return sensitivities are available. The effects of farm level crop…
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Planting Decision Model
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Latest farmdoc Daily Articles
Net Return to Farm Program Crops: Harvest 2024
Concern over low crop prices and high costs is a 2024 farm bill cornerstone issue (farmdoc daily September 26, 2024). A common methodology is used to calculate current and historic…
Revisiting the Merits of Variable Cash Leases for 2025
The variable cash lease has been gaining traction in recent years as farmer tenants seek more risk-sharing without the managerial headaches that can come with traditional share leases. Relative to a fixed cash rent situation the variable cash lease is projected to result in better farmer returns when revenues decline. However, the economic situation facing producers since 2023 highlights the risk-sharing gap that remains if variable lease designs adjust only to changes in crop revenues.
Innovations in Research and Extension: The DIRECT4AG Project, Part 1; An Introduction
A hotter and (mostly) drier fall is capping off a strong growing season helping speed the harvest of an expected bumper crop. In the cab, many farmers are also likely planning for next year; like scientists, they use data, observations, and experience to tweak the formulas for optimal outcomes. To those ends, this article introduces a series discussing innovations in research and extension by the DIRECT4AG project (USDA-REEIS).
Shifting Dynamics in Soybean Farm Funding in Brazil
The financing structure of soybean production costs in Mato Grosso, Brazil’s largest agricultural state, has changed significantly over the past two decades. Funds for operational costs for soybean farmers in…
Conservation Tradeoff: EQIP in the Inflation Reduction Act and the House Farm Bill
“For FY2025 — which began Oct. 1 — USDA announced that the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) would make $7.7 billion available to assist with conservation practices, $5.7 billion from the additional funding in the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. With Congress in recess for the upcoming November election, the Farm Bill remains stalled, though IRA and Farm Bill conservation funding continue through the uncertainties. This article reviews potential tradeoffs between the two.
Pasture, Rangeland and Forage Rainfall Index Insurance: An Insurance Product for Illinois Livestock and Forage Producers
The Pasture, Rangeland and Forage Rainfall Index (PRF-RI) is a crop insurance product underutilized by Illinois livestock and forage producers. Only 6% of the eligible acres in Illinois were insured in 2024, much lower than use west of the Mississippi. Like other Federal crop insurance programs, PRF-RI is heavily subsidized. Over time, PRF-RI has returned $1.29 in payments for each $1.00 in producer-paid premium.
Latest Farm Policy News Articles
New US-China Trade War Could Cost Farmers Billions
United States corn and soybean farmers could lose billions of dollars in annual production value in the event of a potential new tariff-induced US-China trade war, according to a new…
Ag Economists Say Both Presidential Candidates Bad for Trade
A majority of agriculture economists surveyed in the September Ag Economists Monthly Monitor say that both Kamala Harris and Donald Trump would hurt trade in the United States as president.…
Mississippi River Falls During Record Harvest Season
Progressive Farmer’s Mary Kennedy reported Monday that “as fall harvest of record corn and soybean crops is in full swing, river conditions continue to worsen, stalling barges trying to move…
Florida Citrus Hit by Hurricane Milton
Bloomberg’s Ilena Peng reported that “oranges and some citrus trees are lying useless on the ground in Florida’s groves after Hurricane Milton tore through the state, setting back growers just…
Bird Flu Spread Continues in Humans, Slowing in Cattle?
Successful Farming’s Chuck Abbott reported that “on the same day the CDC confirmed the third human case of bird flu in California, state officials said Wednesday that they had identified…
Hurricane Milton To Disrupt Phosphate Production
Argus Media’s Taylor Zavala reported that “the US phosphate market anticipates Hurricane Milton’s Florida landfall … will cause further disruptions to regional production as the Tampa area continues to recover…