Farm Program Sign-Up For 2021 ARC or PLC?

The current Farm Bill requires that farmers sign up or enroll each year at their local Farm Service Agency offices. Each year we can select which program best fits our farm, Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) or Price Loss Coverage (PLC.) In the previous Farm Bill we had to make the selection and could not change it for the entire 5 years of the Farm Bill. In the current Farm Bill each year we can select which program we want for corn and soybeans, ARC or PLC.

ARC and PLC are designed to provide "financial protection" or a safety net for big drops in corn and soybean prices. Making the selection comes down to which program are you most likely to earn a payment or provides the most protection? For the 2020 crop most farmers selected ARC on beans and PLC on the corn and that turned out to be the right decision. But, what about 2021?

The USDA Farm Service Agency and University of Minnesota Extension Service have teamed up to sponsor a webinar on ARC and PLC that will be Tuesday January 12, 2021 at 12:00 pm Central Time. You can register in advance at: z.umn.edu/farmbill2021. Remember, the deadline to sign-up for the current Farm Bill is March 15, 2021.

Farm Service Agency staff will answer questions about each program but will not recommend which program ARC or PLC you should select. However, Farm Business Management Instructors and Ag Analysts like Kent Thiesse can and will give you their opinion on which one you would most likely earn a payment!