A new farm management tool estimating the amount of Average Crop Revenue Election (ACRE) payments a farm will receive for its 2009 crop is available for download from the farm analysis solution tools (FAST) section of the farmdoc Web site at www.farmdoc.illinois.edu.
“ACRE payment estimator users enter their state and crop for which ACRE payment estimates are desired,” says Gary Schnitkey, University of Illinois (U of I) professor of agricultural and consumer economics. The Excel spreadsheet program then estimates the state ACRE payment. “This estimate equals the state guarantee minus state revenue,” he says. “The state guarantee equals the benchmark yield times a benchmark price.”
The U of I farmdoc ACRE payment estimator includes state guarantees for corn, soybeans and wheat for most states.