SD Corn reminds producers of June 1 ACRE deadline

May 7, 2010

The 2008 Farm bill established a new program adopted by Congress called the Average Crop Revenue Election Program (ACRE). With rising input costs, greater market volatility and other operational challenges, this program provides an additional risk management tool for producers.  ?We encourage all South Dakota producers to take a closer look at this program and run their numbers to determine if it is right for you. It also appears likely that wheat producers in South Dakota will qualify for an ACRE payment? said Gary Duffy, president of SDCGA. The preliminary national price triggers for ACRE payments are $3.83 for corn; $9.71 for soybeans; and $5.84 for wheat. ACRE provides a safety net of 90 percent of the national price which is $3.45 for corn, $8.74 for soybeans and $5.26 for wheat. The SDCGA has advocated a revenue-based risk management tool. ACRE is an alternative to the Counter-cyclical Payment program. ACRE is based on crop-specific revenue rather than target price, fixed payment yield and crop base acreage.    Simply put, if your farm does not qualify for an ACRE payment in 2010, either your yield will be very high or the national average price for the 2010 marketing year will be way above current levels, and South Dakota had a stellar production of crops. The trade off for enrolling in ACRE is 20 percent of your direct payment and 30 percent of your marketing loan price. Last year about a third of South Dakota land was enrolled in the new program. Farmers who enrolled in ACRE in 2009 cannot withdraw those acres in 2010. However, farmers who have not enrolled in ACRE can do so under the signup period through June 1 at their local Farm Service Agency.