GRAIN LAND TENURE EVALUATION SOFTWARE USERS' GUIDE

The Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996 (FAIR Act) introduces several significant changes to farm commodity legislation. While these changes impact all program commodities, they have prompted considerable concern for the future of the Texas grain industry. Changes in the farm program have prompted many landowners and tenants to evaluate their current rental arrangements and determine if changes are required. In response to considerable ensuing questions regarding the land rental market, a Lotus 1-2-3 template was developed to aid parties in determining an equitable lease. This Lotus template allows users to specify enterprise budget information for grain farm operations and then evaluates the expected returns to producers and landowners under various lease scenarios. The landowners' results are compared with the returns from 100% of the market transition payments and user-specified net returns for an alternative enterprise to calculate the net advantage to landowners for producing grain under the budgeted scenario over the life of the FAIR Act. The Grain Land Tenure Evaluation Users' Guide is a detailed explanation of how to use the Lotus Grain Land Tenure Evaluation program. This guide instructs users on how to use the various components of the program. Sections of the Users' Guide include a preface, installation instructions, an overview of the changes in the farm program, a section describing how to input data, a description of the custom menu system, and a report section that illustrates examples of the reports that are available for printing. The Grain Land Tenure Evaluation also has the capability of evaluating all seven program crops. A section in the Users' Guide explains how to switch from one crop to another.