STRAIGHT FROM THE HORSES MOUTH

Duane A. Lienemann
UNL Extension Educator

     I had the opportunity this week to travel to Lincoln this past week to the new Nebraska Innovation Campus for a Farm Bill meeting featuring the creators of the Texas A&M Farm Bill Decision Tool. While the meeting was in my opinion very helpful and educational, I was really taken by the facility that we were in.  For you that don’t know, Innovation Park is located in what used to be the old Nebraska State Fair Park.  The Conference Center in which we had the workshop is the old 4-H Building which has a lot of history for 4-H’ers across this state. It was an integral part of the 4-H experience since being built in 1928. Many individuals showed their animals there, sat in the bleachers that surrounded the old arena, participated in livestock judging contests, and most likely attended 4-H State Fair dances. Some will remember the UNL Café and Dairy Store on the bottom side of the bleachers. Many more will remember the west part of the facility where all the 4-H static exhibits were displayed, both upstairs and down. I am so glad they kept the building and made sure that key parts of the architecture were preserved keeping the integrity and ambience at least partially intact and visible. 
     You could still see the old beams and ceiling structure, the old brick structures and even where the old sliding doors were. But what a nice facility it now is for conferences, meetings, etc. It was also gratifying to see that they also kept the old Industrial Arts Building (originally Agricultural Hall) that was built in 1913. I always was intrigued by the architecture in that building and it held a special place for me because of the 4-H dormitories there. I spent many a night as a 4-Her and later as an FFA advisor with young livestock exhibitors in those facilities. I, and I am sure a lot of young exhibitors and some parents, remember those dorms. They could be rather warm, had very short supplies of hot water for showers, were a little noisy with people going in and out and how can you not forget the trains that seemed to incessantly roll by, sometimes hitting their horns – I think knowing there was a dorm there. Even with those deficiencies, my memories are still good. It is not often that you can mix the old with the new and have something that is as functional and high tech as this facility. What they are doing at Innovation Campus is incredible. You can find more on Innovation campus at: http://innovate.unl.edu .
     Now I suppose I should go back to the Farm Bill. It was after all, why I did go to Lincoln. I know a lot of farmers are worried about this new Farm Bill and the decisions that they must make. Some are just going with what they have heard at the coffee shops or their neighbors or perhaps what they have read in farm magazines. This is a completely new approach to risk protection and it is very complex and complicated to say the least. I know it is intimidating, confusing and impossible to predict what the outcomes of your decisions will be.  Even with the decision tools that are available to you, you still are at the mercy of trying to guess what the crop will do, markets, what the price levels will be and what weather conditions we may be subjected to. You just might as well just throw a dart is what many think, and that may be not too far off.
     I am of the opinion however that you should not just throw a dart, or do what your neighbor is doing or just go by what you hear in the coffee shop. I very much suggest that farmers go to at least one and preferably more than one education meeting on the Farm Bill. I would also very much suggest that they use at least one of the decision tools that are out there to help farmers at least have an educated idea of what they should do considering base acre allocation and yield adjustments. These tools can also help weigh the options that producers have in creating a risk protection device as a management tool for their farms. No matter which tool you use, you will need the August 2014 FSA letter or FSA 156EZ or similar worksheet and I also suggest the 10-year crop insurance production report history worksheet from your insurance agent.
     The three main tools that I am aware of can be found on the internet, and each have their own attributes and perhaps some shortcomings, but will be of use no matter what. One of the most in-depth tools I have tried can be found at: https://decisionaid.afpc.tamu.edu/   which is a collaboration between Texas A&M University and FAPRI at the University of Missouri. This decision aid tool, much like all other tools available to you includes yield update base acre reallocation, Agricultural Risk Coverage (ARC-Co & ARC-IC), Price Loss Coverage (PLC), and Supplemental Coverage Option (SCO). The A&M model requires you to register an account with name, email address and password. Then it will require you to set up an account type, either a producer/farmer or multi-client user. The multi-client account is useful because it is on the web and allows producers to create as many clients as wanted and keeps each client’s data separate. This is nice because you can utilize collaboration with family members or consultants. Another decision aid may be found at: http://fsa.usapas.com/ which is developed at Illinois. While a third choice can be found at: www.agmanager.info/policy/commodity/2012/#2  or www.agmanager.info/fb.htm  which features a Farm Bill Decision Tool that was collaboratively developed by Oklahoma State University and Kansas State University. Of these three programs, I feel that the A&M model may be more complete.
     There are of course several other excel spreadsheets, programs from other Universities and private firms, but the ones that I have highlighted probably are the major decision tools being used! Producers must remember however, that these materials and tools are designed to aid farmers with their marketing and risk decisions. This information is primarily based on the authors’ interpretation of the 2014 Farm Bill. The tools or decision aids and all information is intended for educational purposes only and should not be considered the silver bullet for making your decisions. It still comes down to you, your records, and your guesswork on what is in the future over the five years of this Farm Bill. Good Luck!

The preceding information comes from the research and personal observations of the writer which may or may not reflect the views of UNL or UNL Extension. For more further information on these or other topics contact D. A. Lienemann, UNL Extension Educator for Webster County in Red Cloud, (402) 746-3417 or email to: dlienemann2@unl.edu or go to the website at: http://www.webster.unl.edu/home