Producers Should Make ARC-PLC Election Decisions by March 15
Producers can elect coverage and enroll in crop-by-crop Agricultural Risk Coverage-County (ARC-Co) or Price Loss Coverage (PLC) programs within each Farm Service Agency (FSA) farm unit, or ARC-Individual for the entire farm, for the 2021 crop year, says Ron Haugen, North Dakota State University Extension farm management specialist.
Although election changes for 2021 are optional, enrollment by signed contract is required for each year of the program.
This is an annual decision that producers need to make, Haugen says.
If an election is not submitted by the deadline of March 15, the election defaults to the current election for crops on the farm from the prior crop year.
For crop years 2022 and 2023, producers will have an opportunity to make new elections during those signups. Farm owners cannot enroll in either program unless they have a share interest in the farm.
ARC provides income support payments on historical base acres when actual crop revenue declines below a specified guaranteed level. PLC provides income support payments on historical base acres when the national marketing year average price for a covered commodity falls below its effective reference price.
Covered commodities include barley, canola, large and small chickpeas, corn, crambe, flaxseed, grain sorghum, lentils, mustard seed, oats, peanuts, dry peas, rapeseed, long grain rice, medium and short grain rice, safflower seed, seed cotton, sesame, soybeans, sunflower seed and wheat.
NDSU Extension has developed an online tool to aid producers in making this decision. The tool can be found at https://www.ag.ndsu.edu/farmmanagement/farm-bill.
Contact your local FSA office to make this election.
For more information on ARC and PLC, producers can go to the FSA website at https://www.fsa.usda.gov/arc-plc or contact their local FSA office.
NDSU Agriculture Communication – Jan. 29, 2021
Source: Ron Haugen, 701-231-8103, ronald.haugen@ndsu.edu
Editor: Kelli Anderson, 701-231-6136, kelli.c.anderson@ndsu.edu