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Importance of New Technologies for Crop Farming

March 5, 2021

Michael Boehlje and Michael Langemeier

Adoption of technology has been important to production agriculture for decades. Through the adoption of technology and improved managerial practices, aggregate agricultural U.S. farm output in the United States tripled from 1948 to 2017 with almost no corresponding increase in…

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Gardner Policy Series

Jonathan Coppess

Reviewing the History and Development of USDA’s Farm Loan Programs, Part 1: Origins

March 4, 2021

Jonathan Coppess

Each fiscal year, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) provides an important source of credit to farmers who are unable to borrow from commercial sources. The farm loan programs provide direct credit and guarantees loans made…

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crop yields

grain outlook

Scott Irwin

Was the Final USDA Estimate of the 2020 U.S. Corn Yield an Outlier?

March 3, 2021

Scott Irwin

The USDA released final estimates of yield, acreage, and production for the 2020 corn crop on January 12th in its Crop Production Annual Summary report. The final estimate of yield was only 172 bushels per acre, which was a substantial…

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Carl Zulauf

Gary Schnitkey

Krista Swanson

Nick Paulson

policies

Weekly Farm Economics

RP, ECO, and SCO Tradeoffs

March 2, 2021

Gary Schnitkey, Nick Paulson, Krista Swanson, and Carl Zulauf

For the past several years, many farmers in the Midwest purchased Revenue Protection (RP) crop insurance at an 85% coverage level (RP-85%). Due to both higher projected prices and volatilities, RP-85% will have about double the premium costs in 2021…

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Brenna Ellison

Gardner Policy Series

Meg Bruening

Food Insecurity on College Campuses: FAQs

February 25, 2021

Brenna Ellison and Meg Bruening

Since 2015, more than 100 peer-reviewed articles have been published on the topic of food insecurity among college students. Interest in the topic continues to grow, especially as food insecurity relates to larger discussions about college affordability – a priority…

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Carl Zulauf

Gary Schnitkey

Krista Swanson

Nick Paulson

policies

Weekly Farm Economics

Potential Payouts from Enhanced Coverage Option

February 23, 2021

Gary Schnitkey, Nick Paulson, Carl Zulauf, and Krista Swanson

Payments from the crop insurance add-on Enhanced Coverage Option (ECO) at different prices and yields are illustrated in this article. Since ECO coverage levels are high, ECO will make payments in many years. Given premium support involved, ECO should average…

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Brad Zwilling

financial management

Agricultural Debt Continues to Increase

February 19, 2021

Bradley Zwilling

Agricultural debt on a nominal basis in Illinois has been increasing since 1991. Data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Illinois Farm Business Farm Management (FBFM) are shown to see if increasing debt levels pose problems for the…

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Importance of New Technologies for Crop Farming

Recent Articles

Reviewing the History and Development of USDA’s Farm Loan Programs, Part 1: Origins

Was the Final USDA Estimate of the 2020 U.S. Corn Yield an Outlier?

RP, ECO, and SCO Tradeoffs

Food Insecurity on College Campuses: FAQs

Potential Payouts from Enhanced Coverage Option

Agricultural Debt Continues to Increase

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Reviewing the History and Development of USDA’s Farm Loan Programs, Part 1: Origins

Food Insecurity on College Campuses: FAQs

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