USDA “may want to consider” changing the March 31 deadline for growers to decide which crop subsidy option to take – a traditional plan based on target prices or a new approach based on crop revenue, says economist Carl Zulauf of Ohio State University. Sign-up for the options is to run from Nov 17 to March 31. Growers get a one-time choice for the life of the farm bill, which runs through 2018 crops. Writing at farmdoc daily, Zulauf says March 31 also is the day USDA traditionally releases its Prospective Plantings report, which will provide valuable clues about the potential size of the 2015 harvest and likely prices.
“The (deadline) date could be moved backward or forward,” said Zulauf. “Tradeoffs exist from an information perspective.” If USDA chooses a later date, winter wheat growers in the South will have more information about crops than other growers. If an earlier deadline is chosen, all crops are on a more equal footing, wrote Zulauf. Another option, he said, would be for USDA to create a process for farmers who want to change their decision on March 31, when the planting forecasts become available.