This column was originally published in Prairie Farmer during the month indicated and is reprinted here by permission.

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Prairie Farmer - June 2007

Host of Expert Aid at farmdoc

Garrett Stoerger
Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

With the onset of summer only a few weeks away and your vacation plans still in limbo, you don't necessarily want to hear about the importance of cash-flow budgeting. Equally displeasing can be thinking of break-even cash rental rates for 2008.

Instead, why not take some time to read up on a few topics that face Illinois farmers today, and that likely pertain to you and your operation. Resources available at the University of Illinois' farmdoc Web site, located at www.farmdoc.uiuc.edu, inform and educate farmers and landowners all across the country.

A little history

If you are new to the farmdoc site, or have not visited the Web site for quite some time, let me take a moment to fill you in on what you've been missing. The farmdoc (farm decision outreach central) Project's goal is to improve farm-based decision-making through research and education. It provides an in-depth look at agricultural information and research findings, which allows readers to make an informed assessment.

The Web site organizes this information into five main categories:

The farmdoc team always strives to integrate current and seasonal issues that affect farmers at different times throughout the year. For example, in February and March we featured a series of crop-insurance tools and articles aimed to help readers make the best crop-insurance decision based on their individual operation. The site also provides weekly marketing outlook articles for crops and livestock.

Blogs and more

Furthermore, for an updated “blog,” browse a sister site to farmdoc, the farm gate. The farm gate blog also allows users to respond to each entry by posting additional viewpoints, questions or further commentary.

Another great tool provided by the farmdoc team is AgMAS (Agricultural Market Advisory Service). The AgMAS Project provides an unbiased, detailed report on various ag marketing sources.

Farmdoc also features resources on law and taxation — a challenging field for anyone who's less than an expert. You'll find articles that summarize legislative changes that affect farmers and landowners, and answer questions surrounding everything from drainage restrictions to USDA-compliant leases.

And of course, farmdoc's FAST Tools are located on the Web site, as covered in this column every month. FAST consists of more than 40 spreadsheet tools that cover specific areas of management and finance. Best of all, you can download every spreadsheet tool free of charge.

If you are still unsure about what farmdoc offers, make your way to the Web site and browse around yourself. The site features a user-friendly menu, links to the latest articles and research findings, spotlights on commonly searched topics, and marketing and weather summaries on the home page.

Stoerger is the FAST Coordinator with University of Illinois Extension.