|
 Your crop insurance production history is the best source for
this information. County substitute yields will be used for any
year without production or for a year in which your yield is
below the substitute yield. Simply bring in your yields and our
ARC/PLC program software will perform the math and give you the
best options. Failure to provide yield data and obtain an
owner's signature (only 1 signature is needed) on the CCC-858
decision form by the February 27th deadline will result in the
farm retaining the current counter-cyclical yield.
Base Acre options – Producers have the option to retain
the current farm base acreage or select the option to
re-allocate the acres based on the 2009-2012 planting percentage
of each crop. The county office staff will present you the two
options available for your farm(s). There is no need for your to
do the math ahead of time. Failure to make a decision to
re-allocate the base acres and obtain an owner's signature on
the CCC-858 decision form by the February 27th deadline will
result in the farm retaining the current base acreage. Power of
Attorney's are acceptable.
ARC/PLC Program Election: Deadline is March 31, 2015
MAKE YOUR PROGRAM SELECTION NOW! All producers who hold a share
in the crop will need to sign the CCC-857 Program Election Form.
We are able to run these contracts after the base/yield decision
has been made.
Program Options Include:
County Agriculture Risk Coverage - ARC-CO is a
combination of price and yield protection at the county level.
It uses a rolling 5 year Olympic average national price and
county yield to establish an ARC-CO Benchmark Guarantee.
Payments are generated on 85% of the specific crop base acres
whenever the actual County Revenue for a specific pay crop falls
below the Benchmark Guarantee.
Price Loss Coverage – PLC is strictly a price protection
program. Payments are generated on 85% of the specific crop base
acres whenever the national marketing year average price falls
below the Farm Bill established prices of $3.70 for corn, $8.40
for soybeans, and/or $5.50 for wheat.
Individual Agriculture Risk Coverage - ARC-IC is a
combination of price and yield protection at the individual farm
level. It uses a rolling 5-year olympic average of national
price and your farm’s actual yields to establish an ARC-IC
benchmark guarantee. Payments are generated on 65% of the farm's
total base acres if the actual total farm revenue falls below
the total farm benchmark guarantee.
Please remember that by completing the election process now
makes certain that you have met the March 31, 2015 deadline to
have the CCC-857 Election form signed by all share participants.
Keep in mind that signatures are necessary and sometimes quite
an undertaking to obtain, so be sure to allow ample time before
the deadlines to acquire the required signatures. Please know
that if we do not receive the completed CCC-857 Election Form by
close of business on March 31, 2015 the farm will default to the
PLC program for crop years 2015-2018 and the farm will not be
eligible for a 2014 payment, should one trigger. You do NOT want
to miss this deadline.
[to top of second column] |
PLC/ARC-CO Fast Tool Demonstration
Offered
Still on the fence about which program to select? The University
of Illinois Fast Tool is available for producers to compare the PLC
and ARC-CO program. CED, John Peters, is available to run this
spreadsheet at the office. Feel free to stop in to run through this
spreadsheet.
Microloan Cap Grows to
$50,000
The Farm Service Agency (FSA) reminds
farmers and ranchers that the FSA borrowing limit for microloans
increased from $35,000 to $50,000 beginning on November 7th.
Microloans offer borrowers simplified lending with less paperwork.
The microloan change allows beginning, small and mid-sized farmers
to access an additional $15,000 in loans using a simplified
application process with up to seven years to repay. Microloans are
part of USDA’s continued commitment to small and midsized farming
operations.
To complement the microloan program additional changes to FSA
eligibility requirements will enhance beginning farmers and ranchers
access to land, a key barrier to entry level producers. FSA policies
related to farm experience have changed so that other types of
skills may be considered to meet the direct farming experience
required for farm ownership loan eligibility. Operation or
management of non-farm businesses, leadership positions while
serving in the military or advanced education in an agricultural
field will now count towards the experience applicants need to show
when applying for farm ownership loans.
Since 2010, FSA has made a record amount of farm loans — more than
165,000 loans totaling nearly $23 billion. More than 50 percent of
USDA’s farm loans now go to beginning farmers. In addition, FSA has
increased its lending to traditionally underserved producer groups
(ethnic and gender) by nearly 50 percent since 2010.
Please review the FSA Microloan Program Fact Sheet for program
application, eligibility and related information.
[Logan County FSA] |
