USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) and Montana State University are hosting a Farm Bill meeting on October 29, 2019 at 10 a.m. at the Thee Garage meeting room located at 19 W. Montana Avenue in Baker. The meeting is free and open to the public. 

Meeting attendees will learn about FSA’s Agricultural Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC) programs authorized by the 2014 and 2018 Farm Bills. Learning more about ARC and PLC is important for producers who must make a decision about ARC or PLC election and enrollment options.

For more information about the meeting, please contact the local FSA office at 406-775-6355, ext. 2.

Persons with disabilities who require accommodations to attend or participate in this meeting should contact County Executive Director Robin Markuson at (406) 775-6355, ext. 2 or Federal Relay Service at 1-800-877-8339 by Oct. 25, 2019

2019 enrollment for ARC and PLC programs underway

Agricultural producers can now enroll in the Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC) programs, two popular safety net programs, for the 2019 crop year. Interested producers must sign up for either program by March 15, 2020.

The 2018 Farm Bill reauthorized and made updates to these two USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) programs. ARC provides income support payments on historical base acres when actual crop revenue declines below a specified guarantee level. PLC program provides income support payments on historical base acres when the price for a covered commodity falls below its effective reference price.

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 grain rice (which includes short grain rice), safflower seed, seed cotton, sesame, soybeans, sunflower seed and wheat.

Updated provisions in the 2018 Farm Bill allow producers with an interest in a farm to enroll and elect coverage in crop-by-crop ARC-County or PLC, or ARC-Individual for the entire farm, for program year 2019. The election applies to both the 2019 and 2020 crop years. If a 2019 election is not submitted by the deadline of March 15, 2020, the election defaults to the current elections of the crops on the farm established under the 2014 Farm Bill. No payments will be earned in 2019 if the election defaults.

For crop years 2021 through 2023, producers will have an opportunity to make new elections. Farm owners cannot enroll in either program unless they have a share interest in the farm. 

Once the 2019 election and enrollment are completed, producers on the farm for 2020 can complete an enrollment contract for the 2020 crop year beginning mid-October 2019 and ending June 30, 2020. 

Although 2019 enrollment begins Sept. 3, 2019 and must occur first, a producer waiting until mid-October 2019 to enroll is afforded the opportunity to enroll in either program for both 2019 and 2020 during the same office visit. During this time, farm owners have a one-time opportunity to update PLC payment yields that takes effect beginning with crop year 2020. If the owner accompanies the producer to the office, the yield update may be completed during the same office visit.

In partnership with USDA, the University of Illinois and Texas A&M University are offering web-based decision tools to assist producers in making informed, educated decisions using crop data specific to their respective farming operations. These decision tools can be found at fsa.usda.gov/arc-plc.

Producers are reminded that enrolling in ARC or PLC programs can impact eligibility for some forms of crop insurance. Producers who elect and enroll in PLC also have the option of purchasing Supplemental Coverage Option (SCO) through the USDA Risk Management Agency (RMA). Producers of covered commodities who elect ARC are ineligible for SCO on their planted acres.

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. To be eligible for STAX coverage, producers must not enroll their seed cotton base acres into the ARC or PLC programs.

For more information on ARC and PLC, download our program fact sheet or our 2014-2018 farm bills comparison fact sheet, or visit fsa.usda.gov/arc-plc.