Farmers and ranchers have until Wednesday, Sept. 30 to enroll in several key Farm Bill Safety Net Programs. U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) Administrator Val Dolcini stated these programs are: Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC), Price Loss Coverage (PLC) and the Margin Protection Program for Dairy (MPP-Dairy).
“These programs provide important risk protection for farm and dairy operations, so it is important not to miss the deadline for enrollment,” said Dolcini in a press release. “Producers already have elected ARC or PLC, so now is the time to sign the contract and enroll for the 2014 and 2015 crop years. I also remind dairy operations to enroll for coverage in 2016. Just $100 covers 90 percent of milk production at a $4 margin, and with incremental premiums, up to an $8 margin can be covered.”
According to the report more than 1.76 million farmers and ranchers are expected to sign contracts to enroll in ARC or PLC.
Covered commodities under the programs 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. Upland cotton is no longer a covered commodity.
The elections for each farm stay in place through 2018, but ownership and shares can be adjusted through the annual enrollment. For additional program information, visit http://www.fsa.usda.gov/arc-plc.
