The Gardner Agriculture Policy Program is funded by the Leonard and Lila Gardner/Illinois Farm Bureau Family of Companies endowment. This generous gift is dedicated to the memory of Len Gardner, a leading voice on agricultural policy for decades. The program will coordinate and prioritize analytical and outreach efforts for farm, conservation and international trade policies, elevating the University of Illinois’ voice in the national debate.
The Farm Bill Toolbox includes an online tool giving estimates of Agricultural Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC) payments. An Excel spreadsheet provided scenario analysis and yield updating options. YouTube videos describe commodity title alternatives and provide advice on choosing between the alternatives. Written articles describe alternatives and provide advice for choosing between the alternatives.
Latest in Gardner Policy Series
Case Study: Farm Program Value Over Two Years
Agricultural Risk Coverage at the Individual Level (ARC-IC) will make payments in 2019 for farms that are entirely prevented plant or farms with low yields. Farmers weighing ARC-IC may follow a strategy to find a payment maximizing combination of farms…
Adjusting NASS County Yields to Estimate 2019 ARC-CO Payments
Last week, USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) released county yield estimates which we are now using to estimate 2019 ARC-CO payments for corn and soybeans. Recognizing that NASS yield data will not be the primary source of information used…
2019 ARC-CO Payment Estimates for Corn and Soybeans Based on NASS County Yields
The National Agricultural Statistical Service (NASS) released 2019 county yields for corn and soybeans on February 20, allowing for more reliable estimates of Agricultural Risk Coverage at the county level (ARC-CO) payments for 2019. Although Risk Management Agency (RMA) yields…
Multi-farm ARC-IC Tool and Other ARC-IC Information
Agricultural Risk Coverage at the Individual Level (ARC-IC) will make payments in 2019 for farms that are entirely prevented plant or farms with low yields. ARC-IC combines all Farm Service Agency (FSA) farms within a state for one individual payment…
Farmdoc 20 Year Retrospective on Agricultural Trade (In Chart Form)
For some of us, 1999 doesn’t feel like it was that long ago. We were two years into the Asian financial crisis, and commodity prices were in the dumps. We were watching the release of the Matrix, living la vida…
The Conservation Question, Part 8: Interregnum and Acres
At first glance, the demise of the Soil Bank appears to have caused a break in the development of conservation policy for more than two decades; a seeming interregnum. Upon a closer look at the acres planted to the major…
The Conservation Question, Part 7: Losing the Soil Bank
The Soil Bank was enacted as part of the Agricultural Act of 1956 but it struggled, caught in the regional battle over policy and the post-war technological revolution. The Soil Bank was signed into law in late May, 1956; implementation…