The Farm Service Agency will soon be entering the final stages of preparing local FSA county offices for launching the sign-up period for the new farm bill, the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002.

Important decisions will have to be made by farmers across the country over the next couple of months - decisions that may affect your bottom line. It is time to get a head start and prepare for USDA's sign-up.

The new farm safety net introduces significant changes in marketing loan rates and direct payments plus an entirely new counter-cyclical program that helps protect income during depressed commodity markets.

Learn more about your options to update your base acres and yields and how they can determine your farm support payments. Break through the confusion.

Dr. Art Barnaby, an accomplished agriculture economist from Kansas State University will offer his expertise on how to maximize your crop insurance and grain marketing decisions under the new farm bill.

Experts from the Farm Service Agency and the Natural Resource Conservation Service will be discussing details on the new programs and answering questions on what the next steps are for producers.

For dates and places of confirmed farm bill meetings, visit http://www.ncga.com/farmbill/main/mtg_dates.htm.