Three Weeks to ACRE Sign-up
There is now less than 3 weeks to make your final decision on signing up for the ACRE program. You have until August 14, 2009 to sign up for the 2009 season which will lock you into the program through 2012.
There are many sites out there that have a review on how the program works. One of the better sites is the Kansas State University Ag Manager. Troy Dumler has written a series of articles updating the ACRE program over the last few months. These articles are both in a paper format and an Excel spreadsheet to help you make your decision.
My personal feeling on the ACRE program is that I think there will be at least one payment over the next four years which will probably give you a break even return (especially on corn). If there ends up being only one year of ACRE return, you would most likely break-even on the decision. If there is more than one year of ACRE payments, you will be much better off with the ACRE program. If there is no ACRE payment, you will lose about $2-$5 per acre per year in farm programs for corn, soybeans and wheat.
My bottom line is that I would probably sign up for ACRE since the 90% of previous year’s revenue gives you a floor that I think will be triggered at least once over the next four years.
Paul Neiffer is a certified public accountant and business advisor specializing in income taxation, accounting services, and succession planning for farmers and agribusiness processors. Paul is a principal with CliftonLarsonAllen in Walla Walla, Washington, as well as a regular speaker at national conferences and contributor at agweb.com. Raised on a farm in central Washington, he has been immersed in the ag industry his entire life, including the last 30 years professionally. Paul and his wife purchase an 180 acre ranch in 2016 and enjoy keeping it full of animals.
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