With farmers facing a June 1 deadline to enroll in the Average Crop Revenue Election program, University of Kentucky agricultural economists Cory Walters and Greg Halich will host meetings across the state to explain ACRE and help producers determine whether it fits their operations.

ACRE is an optional risk protection program created by the 2008 Farm Bill and offered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Eligible producers include those who grow corn, soybeans, wheat, sorghum, barley, rice, upland cotton, oats, peanuts, pulse crops and other oilseeds.

Unlike the traditional farm support programs that offer direct payments, counter-cyclical payments and marketing assistance loans if a price of a particular crop falls below a certain level, ACRE pays if crop revenue falls below a revenue guarantee. Revenue includes price and yields.

Those who enroll in ACRE forgo any counter-cyclical program payments, forfeit 20 percent of direct payments and have loan rates reduced by 30 percent.

Walters and Halich will discuss how the program works, the probability of payments, and its relationship to crop insurance at the following times and locations.

• 1 p.m. EDT May 17-Hardin County extension office
• 6:30 p.m. CDT May 17-Daviess County extension office
• May 18-during the UK Wheat Field Day at the UK Research and Education Center Farm in Princeton
• 7 p.m. CDT May 18-Union County extension office
• 8 a.m. CDT May 19-Sedalia Restaurant in Graves County
• 1 p.m. CDT May 19-Christian County extension office
• 12 p.m. CDT May 20-Butler County extension office
• 7 p.m. EDT May 20-Marion County extension office

 For more details on a specific meeting, contact the county's extension agent for agriculture and natural resources.