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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…
Machinery Economics
Analyzes the cost of completing fieldwork and generates machinery costs.
Crop Insurance Decision Tool
This program calculates premiums, evaluates insurance payments, and provides historical data useful when making crop insurance decisions for multiple crops. Estimates are for crops in midwest and southeast states. Learn…
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
Crop Insurance Decision Tool
Index Numbers of Illinois Farmland Values
2019 Budgets For All Regions
Latest farmdoc Daily Articles
Prospects for Swine Feed Costs in 2026
Average Indiana feed costs in 2025 were approximately 9% lower than feed costs in 2024 and 44% lower than feed costs in 2023. Feed costs in 2026 are expected to be like those experienced in 2025. Current projections use corn prices ranging from $4.25 to $4.50 per bushel, and soybean meal prices ranging from $275 to $325 per ton. Corn and soybean prices will be impacted by weather conditions around the world as well as other supply and demand factors.
Off-Base, Part 4: A Fundamental Flaw in the Policy
Sometime in early October, USDA is expected to make nearly $16 billion in direct payments to a select group of farm operations (CBO, February 2026). Those payments are for the…
Release of Insurance Evaluator with the New SCO and ECO
We have recently released a new Insurance Evaluator on the farmdoc website. The revised tool takes into account recent increases in pre-mium support for the Supplemental Coverage Option (SCO) and the Enhanced Coverage Option (ECO), as well as increases in support for the COMBO product. As a result of these premium support changes, many farmers may consider taking ECO and SCO and potentially lowering RP coverage levels, particularly for soybeans in the central part of Illinois.
US Grain Storage Capacity Growth Has Stopped
US grain storage capacity grew parallel to production from 2000-2019 but has stagnated since 2020. Combined with rising production, this led to record 80% on-farm capacity utilization in December 2025. The storage constraint raises concerns about supply chain bottlenecks and questions about future investment incentives.
Rising Farm Debt and Financial Stress: Evidence from the Ag Economy Barometer
After increasing by 9.1% in 2024, current U.S. farm debt is expected to increase 3.8% in 2025 (USDA-ERS, 2026). Current debt includes operating loans and principal payments related to machinery,…
Has the US Crop Safety Net Become Excessive?
The US crop safety net has been a remarkably adaptive, evolutionary policy. But, 21st Century assistance is raising the question of excessive levels for barley, corn, cotton, oats, peanuts, rice, sorghum, soybeans, and wheat, the crops that USDA ERS computes an economic cost of production. Since 2000, annual market net return on average fell 4.2%/year below economic cost of production for these nine crops, but safety net payments averaged 12.7%/year of costs, more than triple the level needed to cover losses.
Latest Farm Policy News Articles
Cargill Closing Wisconsin Beef Processing Facility
U.S. agribusiness Cargill will permanently close its beef processing facility in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and eliminate 221 jobs, according to a filing with the state, the latest U.S. beef plant to…
USDA Crop Data Reliability Remains Under Scrutiny
The U.S. Department of Agriculture, long the world’s gold standard for crop estimates, faces mounting doubts about the reliability of its data from farmers, grain traders and economists following deep…
U.S. Farm Bankruptcies Increased 46% in 2025
The U.S. Courts report that 315 farm bankruptcies were filed in calendar year 2025, up 46% from 2024. While still down from recent highs, this is the second year in…
U.S. to Quadruple Beef Imports from Argentina
President Donald Trump on Friday signed an executive order temporarily expanding the amount of beef the U.S. can import from Argentina, a move the White House says is aimed at…
Farm Income to Fall in 2026 Despite Hefty Gov’t Payments
In a sign of growing stress for U.S. farmers, the Agriculture Department forecast on Thursday that U.S. net farm income would fall 0.7% this year, despite near-record government payments that…