Programs at state fair to analyze crops report, farm bill financial provisions

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Farmers attending two Purdue Extension programs at the Indiana State Fair on Tuesday (Aug. 12) will get a good idea of how corn and soybean crops are shaping up for the fall harvest and how the yields could guide financial decisions they make under the new farm bill. 

The sessions are especially important to farmers this year because corn and soybeans futures prices have dropped to their lowest levels since 2010 amid expectations of a strong harvest. Crop prices could fall so low that they would trigger payments to farmers under provisions in the new farm bill. Farmers would need to sign up for the safety-net programs later this year.     

Both meetings will be held in the Farm Bureau Building's banquet hall on the Indiana State Fairgrounds in Indianapolis. They are open to the public.

A panel of agricultural experts in a 1:30 p.m. discussion will analyze the U.S. Department of Agriculture's annual August crop production report, which will be released that afternoon. It is the government's first projection of per-acre yields and total production nationwide for the 2014 crops, including those in Indiana.

Jay Akridge, Glenn W. Sample Dean of Purdue Agriculture, will moderate the panel. Panelists are:

* Ted McKinney, director of the Indiana State Department of Agriculture.

* Chris Hurt, Purdue Extension agricultural economist.

* Bob Nielsen, Purdue Extension corn specialist.

* Shaun Casteel, Purdue Extension soybean specialist.

* Greg Matli, USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service's Indiana state statistician.

Preceding the panel discussion at 10 a.m. will be a 90-minute conference for farmers to learn more about the provisions of the 2014 farm bill that affect them, how the new Agricultural Risk Coverage and Price Loss Coverage programs work and the financial implications for crop farmers under several price scenarios. The farm bill conference is sponsored by the Purdue Center for Commercial Agriculture and the Indiana Farm Service Agency.

Presenters and their topics are:

* Julia Wickard, state executive director, Indiana Farm Service Agency, "Overview of the 2014 Farm Bill."

* Carl Schweikhardt, production adjustment chief, Indiana Farm Service Agency, "Learning About the New ARC and PLC Programs in the 2014 Farm Bill."

* Michael Langemeier, James Mintert and Hurt of Purdue Extension and the Purdue Center for Commercial Agriculture, "What Does the 2014 Farm Bill Mean for Indiana Crop Farmers?"

Hurt and Wickard also will give presentations on the new farm bill Aug. 19 in Wabash and West Lafayette and Aug. 20 in Shelbyville and Huntingburg. Registration deadline is Aug. 8. More information on the four conferences is available from FarmCredit Mid-America at 1-800-444-3276.             

Writer: Keith Robinson, 765-494-2722, robins89@purdue.edu 

Sources: Chris Hurt, 765-494-4273, hurtc@purdue.edu

James Mintert, 765-494-4310, jmintert@purdue.edu

Ag Communications: (765) 494-2722;
Keith Robinson, robins89@purdue.edu
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