Can Farmer Savings Accounts Help Save Farming? - Farm Bill 02 Choices - Statistical Data Included

Choices: The Magazine of Food, Farm and Resource Issues, Fall, 2001 by Mark A. Edelman, James Monke, Ron Durst

The key policy issue to emerge from comparing the four alternatives is to determine the priority of goals for the farmer savings account incentives. Should the primary goal of the incentives be to make AMTA payments more counter-cyclical, to provide a supplemental risk management tool, to foster self-insurance as a substitute for subsidized crop insurance, or to build safety net reserve balances that reduce the need for future ad hoc disaster programs? The level of agreement on policy goals is likely to shape the design and the choice of the option that provides the best fit in terms of its intended consequences.

Mark A. Edelman is Professor of Economics at Iowa State University. James Monke is a senior economist with the Economic Research Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Ron Durst is with the Economic Research Service of USDA. The views expressed in this article do not necessarily represent those of USDA or the U.S. government.

Edelman, M. A., J. Monke, and R. Durst. "Saving for Bad Times: Farmer Savings Account Incentives." 2002 Farm Bill Education Materials Project Series. Farm Foundation, USDA and Land Grant Universities, cooperating, 2001.

Fore More Information

Edelman, M. A. "Canadian Net Income Stabilization Accounts and other Options for Achieving Counter-Cyclical Program Payments with Planting Flexibility." Staff Paper 333, Economics Department, Iowa State University, January 2000.

Monke, J. and R. Durst. "Tax-Deferred Savings Accounts for Farmers: A Potential Risk Management Tool." Agricultural Outlook. Washington, DC. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service, May 1999, pp. 22-24.

Taylor, C.R. "IRMA: Individual Risk Management Account." Testimony to National Commission on 21st Century Production Agriculture, 1999.