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 Signup began Monday, October 17, 2022 and producers have until
March 15, 2023, to enroll in these two programs. Additionally,
USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) has started issuing payments
totaling more than $255 million to producers with 2021 crops
that have triggered payments through ARC or PLC. 2021 commodity
prices and actual revenues were higher than support levels for
Illinois commodities, therefore, PLC and ARC-CO payments did not
trigger in Illinois.
2023 Elections and Enrollment
Producers can elect coverage and enroll in ARC-County (ARC-CO)
or PLC, which provide crop-by-crop protection, or ARC-Individual
(ARC-IC), which protects the entire farm. Although election
changes for 2023 are optional, producers must enroll through a
signed contract each year. Also, if a producer has a multi-year
contract on the farm and makes an election change for 2023, they
must sign a new contract.
If producers do not submit their election by the March 15, 2023
deadline, their election remains the same as their 2022 election
for crops on the farm. Farm owners cannot enroll in either
program unless they have a share interest in the farm.
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.
Web-Based Decision Tools
In partnership with USDA, the University of Illinois and Texas
A&M University offer web-based decision tools to assist
producers in making informed, educated decisions using crop data
specific to their respective farming operations.
Tools include:
* Gardner-farmdoc Payment Calculator, a tool available through
the University of Illinois allows producers to estimate payments
for farms and counties for ARC-CO and PLC.
* ARC and PLC Decision Tool, a tool available through Texas A&M
that allows producers to obtain basic information regarding the
decision and factors that should be taken into consideration
such as future commodity prices and historic yields to estimate
payments for 2022.
2021 Payments and Contracts
ARC and PLC payments for a given crop year are paid out the
following fall to allow actual county yields and the Market Year
Average prices to be finalized. This month, FSA processed
payments to producers enrolled in 2021 ARC-CO, ARC-IC and PLC
for covered commodities that triggered for the crop year.
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For ARC-CO, producers can view
the 2021 ARC-CO Benchmark Yields and Revenues online database, for
payment rates applicable to their county and each covered
commodity. For PLC, payments have triggered for rapeseed and
peanuts.
For ARC-IC, producers should contact their local FSA office for
additional information pertaining to 2021 payment information, which
relies on producer-specific yields for the crop and farm to
determine benchmark yields and actual year yields when calculating
revenues.
By the Numbers
In 2021, producers signed nearly 1.8 million ARC or PLC
contracts, and 251 million out of 273 million base acres were
enrolled in the programs. For the 2022 crop year signed contracts
surpassed 1.8 million, to be paid in the fall of 2023, if a payment
triggers.
Since ARC and PLC were first authorized by the 2014 Farm Bill
and reauthorized by the 2018 Farm Bill, these safety-net programs
have paid out more than $34.9 billion to producers of covered
commodities.
Crop Insurance Considerations
ARC and PLC are part of a broader safety net provided by USDA,
which also includes crop insurance and marketing assistance loans.
Producers are reminded that ARC and PLC elections and
enrollments can impact eligibility for some crop insurance
products.
Producers on farms with a PLC election have the option of
purchasing Supplemental Coverage Option (SCO) through their Approved
Insurance Provider; however, producers on farms where ARC is the
election are ineligible for SCO on their planted acres for that crop
on that farm.
Unlike SCO, the Enhanced Coverage Option (ECO) is unaffected by
an ARC election. Producers may add ECO regardless of the farm
program election.
Upland cotton farmers who choose to enroll seed cotton base
acres in ARC or PLC are ineligible for the stacked income protection
plan (STAX) on their planted cotton acres for that farm.
More Information
For more information on ARC and PLC, visit the ARC and PLC
webpage or contact your local USDA Service Center.
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