@article{Olson:42980,
      recid = {42980},
      author = {Olson, Kent D. and DalSanto, Matthew R.},
      title = {Provisions and Potential Impacts of the Average Crop  Revenue Election (ACRE) Program},
      address = {2008-09},
      number = {1701-2016-138905},
      series = {Staff Paper},
      pages = {18},
      year = {2008},
      note = {Replaced with revised version of paper 11/24/08.},
      abstract = {The Average Crop Revenue Election (ACRE) program is a new,  optional safety net for farmers provided by Congress in the  Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (commonly called  the farm bill). Choosing this new safety net is not an  obvious choice. Farmers who choose to elect this program  also must accept a 20% reduction in direct payments and a  30% reduction in marketing assistance loan rates. In this  paper, we describe the general provisions and calculations  of the ACRE and counter-cyclical payment (CCP) programs and  present our estimates of potential payments under the two  programs.
If prices are expected to remain at or above the  ACRE price guarantee, CCP is the best choice since  government payments are expected to be lower under the ACRE  program—as shown in the first price scenario. However, if  national market prices fall sufficiently, the ACRE program  becomes the best choice since ACRE payments will be  higher—as shown in the third price scenario. The national  market price does not have to be much lower for ACRE to be  the preferred choice—as shown for wheat-soybean farms in  the third price scenario. 
It is essentially impossible to  describe simple rules of thumb or breakeven prices to help  farmers decide whether to sign up for ACRE or stay with  CCP. This difficulty is due to several factors: the  complexity of the program rules, the requirement to sign up  all program crops on a farm, the potential government  payment for only one crop even though direct payments and  loan rates are cut for all crops, the uncertainty of future  prices and yields, and the variation in how an individual  farm’s yields vary in relationship to its State yields.},
      url = {http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/42980},
      doi = {https://doi.org/10.22004/ag.econ.42980},
}