The Superior Express -

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is encouraging agricultural producers to contact their county Farm Service Agency (FSA) office to enroll in the Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC) programs for the 2024 crop year. The deadline to complete enrollment and any election change is March 15. 

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 2024 are optional, producers must enroll through a signed contract each year. Also, if a producer has a multi-year contract on the farm it will continue for 2024 unless an election change is made. 

If producers do not submit their election revision by the March 15 deadline, their election remains the same as their 2023 election for commodities on the farm. Farm owners cannot enroll in either program unless they have a share interest in the cropland. 

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, safflower seed, seed cotton, sesame, soybeans, sunflower seed and wheat. 

Crop insurance considerations: ARC and PLC are part of a broader USDA safety net that 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 interested in learning more about ARC-PLC are encouraged to visit www.fsa.usda.gov/ne and click on the link to an informational webinar, which was conducted recently by the Nebraska Farm Service Agency and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Center for Agricultural Profitability. For additional information on ARC and PLC can be found at the ARC and PLC webpage or contact the local USDA Service Center. Producers can also make elections and complete enrollment online.