News

On the latest edition of FSA Coffee Talk, farm program specialist Todd Barrows of the Farm Service Agency relays some of the finer details of the USDA's Coronavirus Food Assistance Program, phase 2...especially with regard to program eligibility and payment limitation rules. He also talks about changes in the commodities that qualify for CFAP 2 benefits.

Also, Robin Reid follows up with a preview of a special webinar from K-State on October 8, in collaboration with the Kansas FSA, which will provide participants even more in-depth information on CFAP 2. She also talks about the now-finalized farm program payments levels for 2019 crop production from the Price Loss Coverage program option, as those payments are now being distributed to enrolled producers.

K-State agricultural economist Jisang Yu and Ed Perry talk about their recent study, which linked increases in growing-season temperature to yield risk for corn and soybeans, and then tied that to the potential impact on crop insurance premium rates...they used local crop insurance "cause of loss" data to arrive at their findings.

The senior economist at the IGP Institute at K-State, Guy Allen, offers his updated outlook on U.S. grain export business, based in part on the USDA's latest international grain supply and demand report...he says that the keystone customer remains China, which he believes will remain an aggressive buyer of U.S. feedgrains and soybeans for some time to come.

K-State agricultural economist Gregg Ibendahl and Terry Griffin talk about a new online tool that farmers can use to calculate farm machinery costs...as input for making machinery purchase decisions, as a basis for comparing lease vs. purchase options, or for weighing the choice of custom hiring an operation instead of investing in equipment...they say it's an easy-to-use tool that can provide very useful information.

K-State agricultural policy specialist Jenny Ifft talks about current trends in non-traditional agricultural financing...an aspect of agricultural lending that she says deserves greater attention in the farm management arena. She spoke on this topic at the recent K-State Risk and Profit Conference.

K-State agricultural economist Gregg Ibendahl reviews his new outlook on Kansas net farm income for 2020 and 2021, as presented at K-State's Risk and Profit Conference last week...he talks about changes in farm revenue and expenses this year, compared to the 2019 Kansas Farm Management Association numbers, and he outlines why 2021 could be a better year for farm income in the state.

K-State farm management economist Mykel Taylor covers a new survey of Kansas farm landowners and tenants on preferences in farmland leasing arrangements...she talks about how each party's approach to risk affects the type of lease that's agreed upon.

K-State agricultural economist Allen Featherstone discusses current trends in agricultural lending, especially as impacted by the economic effects of the pandemic...it's the theme of his presentation later today as part of K-State's 2020 Risk and Profit Conference, which will be presented on line and is still taking registrations.