2002 Annual Report Edition of The Extension Connection
Kelvin Leibold and JoAnn Carter review 2002 Farm Bill requirements and options with local farmer Larry Hindman.
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Last update: February 2003
Farm Bill education benefits farmers, landowners
Iowa farmers and farmland owners are scrambling to digest
the 2002 Farm Bill and sign up for its new programs. By all accounts,
compliance with the bill challenges even the most seasoned agricultural
business people.
Iowa State University Extension has developed the 2002 Farm Bill education
program to help farmers understand the new bill and make the best decisions
possible.
“This is the most complicated farm bill I’ve seen,” said
Kelvin Leibold, an ISU Extension field agricultural economist. “That’s
because farming has become more complex and political. There are international
trade issues as well as differences in agriculture from one region to
the next in this country. In addition to income support and risk mitigation
programs, the bill includes other areas such as conservation, food stamps
and forestry.”
This Farm Bill also is different because the landlord enrolls for the
life of the program, but the tenant farmer enrolls annually. “This
bill affects landowners more than in the past,” Leibold said.
JoAnn Carter, Farm Service Agency (FSA) executive director in Hardin
County, echoes Leibold: “This is such a monumental task for owners
and operators, much bigger than anything I’ve seen in the past 20
years.”
The assistance FSA is receiving from Iowa State in helping farmers decipher
the bill is appreciated, Carter said. “When I talk to producers,
I approach the Farm Bill from a regulatory point of view. Extension tackles
it from an economic and decision-making angle.”
Also, ISU Extension can advise producers. “Because I’m with
the regulatory agency, I can’t advise farmers at all,” Carter
said. “I can give them the numbers and guide them to calculator programs
on the Web, but that’s it.”
Making the correct decisions is critical, she added. “This is the
farmers’ bread and butter, and the decisions they make are for the
next six years, minimum.”
Larry Hindman raises corn and soybean on 1,500 acres in Hardin County.
He attended a workshop by ISU Extension’s Leibold, and is in a unique
position to see the benefit of the educational effort—he is working
as a temporary employee in the Hardin County FSA office to assist in the
new Farm Bill enrollment.
“One farmer who really knows a lot and has a simple farm was in
here to enroll the other day,” Hindman said. “He was in here
for an hour and a half, and he’s not done yet.”
Carter said even the best prepared farmers will make two or three trips
of an hour or so each to the FSA office before they complete their enrollment.
Her county alone has about 1,600 farms with 4,300 landowners (many are
partners) and tenants.
To help farmers prepare, ISU Extension developed an educational program
including a series of meetings and workshops, a Web
site (www.extension.iastate.edu/feci/), an electronic calculator and
publications.
As of Jan. 1, more than 17,500 Iowans had attended meetings, and Extension’s Farm Bill Payment Analyzer had been downloaded nearly 22,000 times. With an enrollment deadline of April 1, 2003, it’s a safe bet that the educational program will continue to get a workout.