2015 is setting up to be another interesting year in the agriculture industry, following a fairly profitable year in 2014 for many livestock producers, but a far less profitable year for most crop producers in the upper Midwest.

2014 ended with may farm operators and land owners focusing on the choices associated with the various farm program options that are part of the new Farm Bill that was passed in 2014.

Following are some items that are likely to be on the forefront in the agriculture industry for 2015.

New farm program sign-up. Sign-up for the new farm program, which part of the new Farm Bill, is now underway at local USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) offices. The new farm program will be in place for the 2014 to 2018 crop years for all eligible crops under the Commodity Title of the Farm Bill, including corn, soybeans, wheat, and other crops.

There are several farm program analysis tools now available to producers and landowners, through various Land-Grant Universities, in cooperation with the Farm Service Agency. Local FSA offices are scheduling several informational meetings in the next couple of months, many of which are bring jointly conducted with the Land-Grant Universities.

The sign-up process for the new farm program at local FSA offices will take place in a three-step process. Landowners have until Feb. 27, 2015 to make final decisions on updating FSA payment yields and reallocating crop base acres on each FSA farm unit.

Producers have a deadline of March 31, 2015 to complete the farm program choice on each farm unit, and potentially on each eligible crop. Farm program choices include the Price Loss Coverage (PLC), Agricultural Risk Coverage-County (ARC-CO), or Agricultural Risk Coverage-Individual Coverage (ARC-IC) programs.

All farm program payments will be made on the basis of crop base acres. Any potential 2014 farm program payments will not occur until October, 2015. Producers will still need to enroll in the 2014 and 2015 farm program on an annual basis at local FSA offices, which can be done simultaneously for the 2014 and 2015 crop years in late spring and early summer of 2015.

Source - http://www.farmandranchguide.com/