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 cover crop project seeks to provide farmers with a practical web-based decision support tool designed to help manage cover crops in their fields. The project makes use of existing research to demonstrate the potential for cover crops, as well as providing useful information for decision making and management of this practice. It will also seek to apply future research on cover crops as results are incorporated into updates and new iterations of the tool. This remains a work in progress with a goal towards adapting with the science.
Latest in Gardner Policy Series
Prevent Plant Policy Options
As discussed in the May 4, 2022 farmdoc daily, crop insurance’s prevent plant provision has the potential to notably reduce planted acres if planting is delayed by weather until prevent plant’s first decision date. This potential is important in years…
Mapping the Farm Bill: Reviewing the CRP; Law, Land & History
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]The Agricultural Improvement Act of 2018 is scheduled to expire in the 2023 calendar, crop, and fiscal years, initiating the reauthorization process on the legislative calendar. At this early stage vast uncertainties exist about the directions of, and prospects for,…
2021 Corn and Soybean Yields: Implications for Crop Insurance and Commodity Title payments
The National Agriculture Statistics Service (NASS) recently released county yields. NASS county yields are not the same yields that will be used to calculate Agriculture Risk Coverage at the county level (ARC-CO) payments, or to determine indemnities from the Supplemental…
The 2022 PLC and ARC Decision
Farmers will again have until March 15 to make commodity title program selections. Given the current high prices, commodity title payments are not expected from any program option for the 2022 marketing year. If a change in conditions resulted in…
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…
Price Later Contracts and the Illinois Grain Code: An Update from the Court’s Decision in Miller v. Department of Agriculture
In 2003, Illinois significantly revised its Grain Code to provide additional protection to famers in the event a state-licensed grain dealer or warehouse fails. A grain elevator that stores grain for a farmer acts as a warehouse, while an elevator…
On Agriculture & Antitrust: A Brief Summary of Legislative History
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Increased prices, new and continuing supply chain problems, and more in the wake of Russia’s unprovoked war on Ukraine and the Covid-19 pandemic may be reinvigorating discussions and questions about the markets, competition, antitrust and agriculture (see e.g., farmdoc daily,…
Commemorating Earth Day with a Little Legislative History
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Friday, April 22, 2022, marks the 52nd Earth Day and anniversary of the modern environmental movement’s origins (https://www.earthday.org/). These are interesting times to reflect upon this annual event amid a steady stream of scientific warnings about the danger we pose…