As the Farm Bill decision deadline looms large, farmers and landowners are encouraged to check out recent updates to the online Farm Bill Toolbox that may help their decision making go more smoothly.

University of Illinois clinical assistant professor of law and policy Jonathan Coppess says after listening to a lot of people who have used the website, they decided to make some changes that will help users through the decision-making process

The site has been redesigned so that it is easier to navigate; a resource tool bar has been added in the program decision steps; lists have been created of farmdoc Daily articles that are relevant to each decision step; and there is a new section with answers to frequently asked questions.The website can be found by typing “Farm Bill Toolbox” into any search engine or by visiting http://farmbilltoolbox.farmdoc.illinois.edu/.

The site includes dates and online registration for 14 free seminars that will be held across Illinois over the next few weeks and an archive of the webinars we offered this past fall. Coppess says they’ll also be hosting another webinar series that will cover each of the decisions, updated analysis on the programs, and expected payments. Information about how people can attend those webinars will be added to the site.”

Those producers with further questions pertaining to the new farm bill programs are encouraged to attend a special Farm Bill meeting sponsored by Peterson Insurance at the Richland Community College Clinton Education Center, on Wednesday, January 21st at 6:30pm.