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 The
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) offers these two safety
net programs to provide vital income support to
farmers experiencing substantial declines in crop prices or
revenues.
Producers can elect coverage and enroll in ARC-County or PLC,
which are both commodity-by-commodity, or ARC-Individual, which
covers the entire farm. Although election changes for 2023 are
optional, producers must enroll through a signed contract each
year. Additionally, if a producer has a multi-year contract on
their farm and makes an election change for 2023, they will need
to sign a new contract.
If producers do not submit an election by the March 15,
2023, deadline, the election remains the same as the 2022
election for commodities on the farm. Farm owners cannot enroll
in either program unless they have a share interest in the
commodity.
In Illinois, producers have completed 145,399 contracts to date,
representing 82.55% of the more than 176,139 expected
contracts.
Producers who do not complete enrollment by the deadline will
not be enrolled in ARC or PLC for the 2023 year and will not
receive a payment if triggered.
Producers are eligible to enroll farms with base acres for the
following commodities: 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.
Decision Tools
In partnership with USDA, two web-based decision tools are
available to assist producers in making informed, educated
decisions using crop data specific to their respective farming
operations:
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 University that allows producers to estimate payments and
yield updates and expected payments for 2023.
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Crop Insurance Considerations and Decision
Deadline
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.
Producers should contact their crop insurance agent to make certain
that the election and enrollment made at FSA follows their intention
to participate in STAX or SCO coverage. Producers have until March
15, 2023, to make the appropriate changes or cancel their ARC or PLC
contract.
For more information on ARC and PLC, producers can visit the ARC and
PLC webpage or contact their local USDA Service Center.
[Illinois / USDA - FPAC
Farm Service Agency]
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