Deadline is April 7 for Choosing Crop Safety-Net Programs

News from the USDA:

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today provided farm owners and producers one additional week, until April 7, to choose between Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC), the safety-net programs established by the 2014 Farm Bill.

The final day to update yield history or reallocate base acres also will be April 7. 

Nearly 98 percent of owners already have updated yield and base acres, and 90 percent of producers have enrolled in ARC or PLC.  

This additional week will give producers a more time to have those final conversations, review their data, visit their local Farm Service Agency offices to make decisions.
If no changes are made to yield history or base acres by the deadline, the farm's current yield and base acres will be used. If a program choice of ARC or PLC is not made, there will be no 2014 crop year payments for the farm and the farm will default to PLC coverage for the 2015 through 2018 crop years. 

Producers who have an appointment at their local Farm Service Agency offices scheduled by April 7 will be able to make an election between ARC and PLC, even if their actual appointment is after April 7.
These safety-net programs provide important financial protection against unexpected changes in the marketplace.  

Online tools, available at www.fsa.usda.gov/arc-plc, allow producers to explore how ARC or PLC coverage will affect their operation. 
Covered commodities under ARC and PLC include barley, canola, large and small chickpeas, corn, crambe, flaxseed, grain sorghum, lentils, mustard seed, oats, peanuts, dry peas, rapeseed, long grain rice, medium grain rice (which includes short grain and sweet rice), safflower seed, sesame, soybeans, sunflower seed and wheat.
Producers need to contact the Farm Service Agency by April 7. To learn more, farmers can contact their local Farm Service Agency county office. To find local offices, visit http://offices.usda.gov.