Writer: Steve Byrns, 325-653-4576, s-byrns@tamu.edu
Contact: Robert Pritz, 325-672-6048, r-pritz@tamu.edu
ABILENE – The Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service will hold a Farm Bill Update from 9 a.m.-noon Dec. 5 at the AgriLife Extension office in Taylor County, 1982 Lytle Way.
The update, which is free and open to the public, is being held in conjunction with the regular monthly meeting of the Taylor County Marketing Club, said Robert Pritz, AgriLife Extension agent in Taylor County.
“Dr. Joe Outlaw, co-director for the Agriculture and Food Policy Center and an AgriLife Extension economist at College Station, will discuss what is taking shape as a result of the House-Senate conference committee meetings,” Pritz said.
“While they haven’t reached a full agreement yet, there is more agreement than disagreement at this point,” Outlaw said.
Other speakers are Dr. Mark Welch, AgriLife Extension state grain marketing specialist at College Station and William Thompson, AgriLife Extension economist at San Angelo. Welch will be discussing the differences in crop insurance coverage between yield protection and revenue protections policies, and how both policy types use the futures market to determine coverage levels.
“A solid understanding of crop insurance is absolutely necessary to successfully navigate the new direction Congress has taken in providing a safety net to agriculture,” Pritz said. “This program will be ideal for those still needing some guidance in this somewhat complicated area.”
Thompson will end the session with a demonstration of an online decision aid available to producers, designed to help them through the complexities of signing up for the new program. The program allows them to integrate commercial crop insurance with provisions of the new farm bill.
For more information, contact Pritz at 325-672-6048.
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