Nebraska USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) is reminding producers now is the time to make elections and enroll in the Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC) programs for the 2023 crop year. The signup period is open through March 15, 2023, and producers are encouraged to begin working with their USDA county Farm Service Agency (FSA) office now to complete the process.
Producers can learn about the ARC and PLC options during a University of Nebraska-Lincoln Center for Agricultural Profitability webinar scheduled for 12:00 p.m. CT on Tuesday, Feb. 7. Cathy Anderson, production and compliance programs chief for the Nebraska Farm Service Agency, and Brad Lubben, extension policy specialist in the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Department of Agricultural Economics, will present and share information relevant for producers, ag professionals and ag stakeholders.
Registration for the webinar is free and can be found at cap.unl.edu/webinars.
ARC and PLC are key USDA safety-net programs that help producers weather fluctuations in either revenue or price for certain crops.
“Safety-net programs like ARC and PLC are designed to help producers mitigate some of the financial stressors associated with crop production. I encourage farmers to evaluate their program elections and enroll for the 2023 crop year,” said Nebraska FSA State Executive Director John Berge.
ARC provides income support payments on historical base acres when actual crop revenue declines below a specified guaranteed level. PLC provides income support payments on historical base acres when the effective price for a covered commodity falls below its 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 and short grain rice, safflower seed, seed cotton, sesame, soybeans, sunflower seed and wheat.
Producers can elect coverage and enroll in ARC-County or PLC on a crop-by-crop basis, or ARC-Individual for the entire farm, for the 2023 crop year. Although election changes for 2023 are optional, enrollment (signed contract) is required for each year of the program. If a producer has a multi-year contract on the farm, it will be necessary to sign a new contract for the farm by the March 15th deadline if a 2023 election change is desired.
If an election is not submitted by the deadline of March 15, 2023, the election defaults to the current election for crops on the farm from the prior crop year.
All program participants are encouraged to review their previous program elections, Berge said.