West Lafayette, Indiana - Farmers who are deciding which of the new federal farm programs is right for their operation will be able to speak directly with Purdue University experts during a free webinar on February 16.

"Evaluating Your 2014 Farm Bill Choices"  will begin at 9 a.m. EST. It will be the second Purdue webinar on the new farm bill coverage options.

Jim Mintert, director of Purdue's Center for Commercial Agriculture and one of the webinar panelists, said the 2014 farm bill represents the biggest change to federal farm policy in a generation.

The legislation offers farmers three coverage options: the Agricultural Risk Coverage-County, or ARC-County, program; the Price Loss Coverage, or PLC, program; and the Agricultural Risk Coverage-Individual, or ARC-Individual, program. Producers have until March 21 to choose one.

Farmers also have an opportunity to reallocate their base acreage for program crops based on recent planting history and, for the first time in years, can also update their farms' yields based on actual yield history. The deadline to reallocate and update farm yields is Feb. 27.

The panelists will discuss the provisions of each of the programs and provide some economic analysis to help guide farmers in their decisions. In addition to Mintert, the panelists are Michael Langemeier, associate director of the Center for Commercial Agriculture, and Michael Boehlje, distinguished professor of agricultural economics.

To register for the webinar, or for more information, visit the Purdue Center for Commercial Agriculture website.