OSU Extension to Offer Webinar March 18 on ACRE and DCP Programs

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COLUMBUS, Ohio – Growers deciding whether to enroll in the Average Crop Revenue Election (ACRE) program or the Direct and Counter-Cyclical Program (DCP) may want to wait until as close to the June sign-up deadline as they can in order to make the most informed decision on which, if either, program can best impact their financial bottom line, an Ohio State University Extension expert said.

By the June 3 sign-up deadline for the ACRE program, North American and European corn planting progress, global wheat conditions, and data on soybean crop size should be available to growers, which can better help them make a decision that best suits their individual financial needs, said Chris Bruynis, an OSU Extension educator. 

OSU Extension is the statewide outreach arm of Ohio State’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences

With the passage of the 2012 American Taxpayer Relief Act, Congress extended many provisions of the 2008 Farm Bill, including the ACRE and DCP programs. That means that growers now can elect to enroll in the traditional DCP program, the ACRE program or neither program for the 2013 growing season, Bruynis said. 

To provide growers with more information on both programs, OSU Extension will host a free webinar March 18 that will give detailed program descriptions to help growers understand the financial implications of each program and what information they should weigh in order to make their decision, he said.  

“Participants will learn the mechanics and restrictions of the programs as well as some strategies to decide which program may be the best election for their farm business,” said Bruynis, who will present the webinar. “All farmers will be faced with this decision, so having this kind of non-biased, detailed information will be very helpful to them to be able to understand what the issues are to make such a critical decision.” 

He said OSU Extension is offering the webinar as a way to reach a larger audience. 

“The whole logic behind it is to make the information easier to obtain by farmers statewide since reaching large numbers of people with face-to-face meetings is not always possible,” Bruynis said. “Our goal is to provide factual information in an open way to help growers know how the programs work as we go through this 2013 crop year.” 

The webinar runs from 7-8:30 p.m. March 18 and can be viewed online by going tohttp://carmenconnect.osu.edu/ohioagmanager. No pre-registration is required. 

For more information about the webinar, contact Bruynis at bruynis.1@osu.edu or 740-702-3200.

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For more information, contact: 

Chris Bruynis
bruynis.1@osu.edu
740-702-3200