Deciphering the Agriculture Act of 2014 - Farm Bill

Farmers scramble to learn more about the new Agriculture Act of 2014 or “Farm Bill” before planting season starts.

Posted on March 14, 2014 by Dennis Stein, Michigan State University Extension

It took a long time to draft the new Farm Bill and the local farm service agency office will not be ready for new enrollments for several months, but there are some things that farms can do right now. On the short term, farms will need to follow the guidelines and processes that have been in place during the past few years as the new programs will not be in place prior to this seasons planting and annual reporting deadlines.

If you are looking for information about the programs and changes in programs that are part of the new farm bill, you can find some helpful resources and quick links that have been posted to the Michigan State University Extension – FIRM workgroup web page.

Under the Hot topic and Current Events tabs on this page you will find several links to reports, presentations and YouTube videos that relate to the general farm bill information that is currently available. One resource is a fact sheet which is a summary of the 2014 Farm Bill Summary which USDA Farm Service Agency has published and provides a good overview of the new programs. Farmers may want to use some of the extended winter days to gain some background as the spring planning rush is just around the corner.

This article was published by Michigan State University Extension. For more information, visit http://www.msue.msu.edu. To contact an expert in your area, visit http://expert.msue.msu.edu, or call 888-MSUE4MI (888-678-3464).