February 21, 2003
Ag economist: Farmers need not know farm bill inside out
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Spring heralds the start of a new crop season in more ways than one. For the first time in seven years farmers will be producing food and fiber under a new federal farm bill.
The 2002 Farm Bill is loaded with rules, stipulations and formulas affecting government payments for program crops. Farmers can rest easy – they don't need an encyclopedic knowledge of the legislation before planting, said Allan Gray, a Purdue University agricultural economist.
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October 22, 2002
Ag law specialist: Now's the time to review farmland leases
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Farmland owners and the producers who lease their land might want to examine their rental agreements in light of crop income and support payment changes within the 2002 Farm Bill.
Producers cannot receive government payments on rented land until they've submitted a valid lease to their local office of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Farm Service Agency (FSA), said Gerald Harrison, a Purdue University Cooperative Extension Service agricultural law specialist.
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September 23, 2002
Milk money: Farm bill increases dairy industry support
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – New farm legislation expands federal support to the men and women who fill the nation's dairy cases.
The 2002 Farm Bill provides dairy producers government payments when milk prices are low and earmarks dollars for bovine disease eradication and environmental improvements at dairy operations, said Mike Schutz, Purdue University Cooperative Extension Service dairy specialist.
Those dairy farms can participate in the Dairy Market Loss Payment
(DMLP) program, Schutz said. Introduced in the 2002 Farm Bill, the DMLP
is an assistance payment that kicks in when fluid milk prices drop below
the announced Boston Class I milk price.
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June 6, 2002
Economist: Farm bill stretches safety net under more U.S. ag
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – The
new farm bill places a larger safety net under U.S. agriculture, but
to land softly in its protective netting, farmers will have to negotiate
around complex rules and payment formulas, said a Purdue
University agricultural economist.
Parts of the six-year bill will be familiar to producers but many others
will not, said economist Allan Gray. He advised farmers to begin boning
up on the guidelines now if they intend to receive price supports.
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June 5, 2002
Farm bill a plus for both environment, farmers, experts say
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – The 2002 Farm Bill should please both environmentalists
and farmers who must deal with environmental regulations, say two Purdue
University agricultural economists.
The 2002 Farm Bill contains many new or enlarged conservation programs
and offers payments to entice farmers to adopt environmentally friendly
management plans.
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June 4, 2002
Purdue expert: Farm bill likely to grow in cost, curb
free trade
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – The 2002 U.S. farm bill has the highest
price tag ever, and the cost could grow as the bill moves producers
further away from market-oriented agriculture and free trade, said a
Purdue University agricultural economist.
"The $180 billion budget for the farm bill assumes that commodity
prices will improve after four years," said Allan Gray, assistant
professor of agricultural economics. "That's questionable, given
that payment mechanisms in the farm bill will likely encourage overproduction
that will depress prices."
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