Calculating your expected yield goes further than pulling out the past five year's production history. In fact, it requires loads of work that include detrending yields over time and calculating the mean, standard deviation, slope, and intercept for a given data set. If you are in need of a tool that can make quick work out of calculating expected yields and creating yield distribution curves, check out the latest development from the folks at farmdoc. The recently rebuilt Yield Risk Evaluator tool has updated yield data and a new user-friendly feel.
In the August issue of Prairie Farmer, the University of Illinois' Garrett Stoerger shares tips on using farmdoc Web site's Yield Risk Evaluator spreadsheets, via the Sharp Farming column. Spreadsheets for Illinois, Indiana and Iowa are currently available.
Stoerger works with the farmdoc team of ag economists and with FAST Tools, a set of Excel spreadsheets designed to help farmers make better decisions for their operations. Each month in the magazine, Stoerger highlights a different FAST spreadsheet.
The Yield Risk Analysis tool, part of the suite of FAST Excel spreadsheets that the University of Illinois' farmdoc team has developed, can provide the solutions to the above challenges. The tool is available for download free of charge from the University of Illinois farmdoc website at www.farmdoc.uiuc.edu/fasttools.
For more on the Yield Risk Analysis tool, take a look at the August issue of Prairie Farmer, either in your mailbox or online.