Had only a farm program like the new ACRE state revenue program existed instead of the authorized 1996–2008 programs for com, soybeans, and wheat, farm support expenditures would have occurred earlier but totaled less. In contrast, at the higher prices forecast for the three crops over the 2009–2012 crop years, spending per acre is expected to be higher for acres enrolled in the ACRE program than for acres enrolled in the traditional programs. These results reflect the different design features of the two programs: revenue versus price assistance and assistance levels that adjust with lagged market revenue versus fixed nominal support triggers. The design issues and policy questions raised for both domestic policy considerations and WTO compliance are discussed.

Farm-level data from Illinois and Kansas for the 1991-2007 crops are used to examine the interaction and overlap among crop revenue insurance, Supplemental Revenue Assistance (SURE), and Average Crop Revenue Election (ACRE). Compared with 75% Crop Revenue Coverage Insurance (75% CRCP), ACRE provides more payments and has a greater impact on minimum farm revenue for the Illinois farms. In contrast, for the Kansas farms, 75% CRCP has the greater impact. SURE's relative impact on the Illinois and Kansas farms depends on the metric. The overlap in payments from ACRE and 75% CRCP resulting from covering the same part of the revenue risk distribution is estimated to be less than 5% of ACRE payments. Several proposals for improving the farm safety net are discussed.

The development of the commodity programs in the 2008 Farm Bill involved the origination of two complex revenue support initiatives. The two new programs, Average Crop Revenue Election (ACRE) and Supplemental Revenue Assurance (SURE), expanded the risk management tool kit of agricultural producers. The SURE program is a permanent disaster assistance program, whereas the ACRE program is a revenue-based commodity program offered as an alternative to the price-based Direct and Counter-Cyclical Program (DCP) created in the 2002 Farm Bill. For the 2009 signup, only 7.7% of eligible U.S. farms enrolled in the ACRE program. In the southern region, three states had no farms electing ACRE and four others had less than 50. Excluding Oklahoma, less than 1% of all farms in 13 southern states made the ACRE election.