USDA announced today that the signup period for the 2010 Direct and Counter-Cyclical Program (DCP) and the Average Crop Revenue Election (ACRE) program has begun and will continue through June 1, 2010.

However, don't rush out to sign up. Let's watch how the programs unfold for the 2009 crop being harvested now. Let's see how the ACRE payments work for those signed up for ACRE.

Since the deadline is June 1, 2010, we'll have a good idea of actual planting decisions, but we won't know much about the weather for the 2010 crop. So the decision to switch from DCP to ACRE will require more analysis about potential yield variability on the farm and for the State as well as some estimates of price variability. We can't assume that the 2010 ACRE payment will be the same as the one for the 2009 crop. Stay tuned for more information about decision tools as we move into the fall and winter.

If you signed up for ACRE in 2009, you can't change back. That decision is irrevocable.

If yesterday's yield and price forecast releases from USDA hold, the potential for a positive ACRE payment rate for Minnesota has increased. This is especially true for corn and wheat. If the low part of the WASDE price forecast becomes reality, we would likely see positive State ACRE payment rates for corn, soybeans, and wheat at current yield estimates.

However, the State payment rate is only the first trigger for an ACRE payment to an individual farm. The individual farm also has to have lower revenue than that farm's benchmark revenue. If a farm is expecting better than average yields from recent years, the farm may not receive a payment even if the State has a revenue shortfall.

And if farmers sign their farms up for the 2009 crop, the farm is enrolled for all four years. If farmers expect normal yields and future prices to be below recent levels, the ACRE program could look very attractive compared to the 20% cut in direct payments. If future prices are expected to increase, the likelihood of ACRE payments decreases.

Farmers have until August 14, 2009, to elect and enroll their farms in either the ACRE program or the Direct and Counter-cyclical Program (DCP) program for their 2009 crop.

Especially due to the closeness of this decision, every farmer needs to evaluate their own conditions and payment limits and decide whether the ACRE or DCP program is the best option for their farm in 2009. Further information for Minnesota farmers and an Excel worksheet for analyzing the choice between ACRE and CC payments is available in the 2008 Farm Bill section at Minnesota Extension's Ag Business Management web page. Also, further information on the ACRE and other FSA programs are available at local or State FSA offices or on FSA's Web site at: www.fsa.usda.gov.

With recent crop price declines, farmers have become more interested in whether they should sign up for the Average Crop Revenue Election (ACRE) program. And they are right to be more interested. Farmers have until August 14, 2009, to elect and enroll their farms in either the ACRE program or the Direct and Counter-cyclical Program (DCP) program for their 2009 crop.

For corn and soybeans, current average price and yield projections for the 2009-10 marketing year and the 2009 crop put potential actual state revenue for corn and soybeans essentially equal to the almost final state ACRE guarantees. If the actual is equal to or more than the guarantee, the State payment rate for ACRE would be zero. However, my estimates show that it doesn't take much of a price drop to have an ACRE payment rate that would cover the required 20% in direct payments (DP).

For wheat, the forecast wheat price for 2009-10 indicates a high likelihood that the potential ACRE payment will be greater than the required 20% reduction in direct payments. Any farmer with wheat needs to give serious consideration to signing up for ACRE instead of DCP and watch which direction price forecasts move before August 14.

This decision is not an obvious choice for corn and soybeans but it is becoming clearer, especially for wheat, as we learn more about where yields and prices may be for the 2009 crop and the 2009/10 crop marketing year. Under ACRE program rules, the revenue guarantees are being set fairly high for Minnesota due to good yields and high prices in recent years. But since forecast prices for 2009/10 are also quite high and Minnesota crop conditions are good for the 2009 crop (from a statewide perspective), actual revenue in Minnesota may not be low enough to trigger an ACRE payment large enough to counter the required 20% reduction in direct payments (DP). In Minnesota, the highest chance of an ACRE payment being made is for wheat. For corn and soybeans, the choice lies in great part on whether prices for the 2009-10 year will be lower than current forecasts, not what prices are doing right now, but what we think prices will be for the entire 2009-10 marketing year.

Especially due to the closeness of this decision, every farmer needs to evaluate their own conditions and payment limits and decide whether the ACRE or DCP program is the best option for their farm in 2009. Further information for Minnesota farmers and an Excel worksheet for analyzing the choice between ACRE and CC payments is available in the 2008 Farm Bill section in the left hand menu at Ag Business Management web page. More information on the ACRE and other FSA programs are available at local or State FSA offices or on FSA's Web site at www.fsa.usda.gov.