COLLEGE STATION — James Little, administrator for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farm Service Agency, and Dr. Joe Outlaw, associate professor and Texas Cooperative Extension economist at Texas A&M University, on Friday will showcase a new interactive Web-based tool for landowners and operators which will be used in regards to the new farm bill.
The media event will take place from 1:30-2:00 p.m. at the CENTEQ building located on the Texas A&M campus, 1500 Research Parkway, Suite 240 in College Station. A select group of local farmers will be on hand to take part in the demonstration.
The calculator is available to assist producers in making crucial base and yield decisions that will impact their farm program payments for the next seven years. The Web-based calculator http://www.fsa.usda.gov/pas/farmbill/tools.asp .
The innovative tool is based on software developed by Texas A&M’s Agriculture Food and Policy Center (AFPC), in cooperation with USDA and FSA. The analysis program helps producers evaluate the economic consequences of selecting different base and yield options on a case-by-case basis for each of their respective operations.
When using the analyzer program, producers will provide information including planted acres, yields and types of crops grown. The software will prompt producers to enter projected crop prices and various base and yield options that will be used to estimate payments for each crop.
During the media event, Outlaw will demonstrate the calculator and provide a hands-on opportunity for the producers in attendance to run the program through its paces. Little will discuss the cooperative efforts between USDA and Texas A&M that resulted in adoption of the calculator as an official tool of the FSA.
Following the demonstration and discussion, Little and Outlaw will be available for brief media interviews and inquiries
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