Congress extended the 2018 Farm bill one year, so elections and enrollment in the Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC) programs for the 2024 crop year are now in progress.
These two programs are the key U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) safety-net programs to help producers withstand fluctuations in either 2024 prices for certain crops (PLC) or revenue (price and yield, ARC).
Enrollment for the 2024 crop year program closes March 15, 2024.
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.
Producers can elect coverage and enroll crop-by-crop, ARC-County or PLC, or ARC-Individual, for the entire farm for the 2024 crop year.
Although election changes for 2024 are optional, re-enrollment requires a new contract be signed by all producers that share in the crops being grown in 2024.
We assume 2024 is the last year of the 2018 Farm Bill, since it only received a one-year extension. Producers will have the opportunity to make new program elections during this annual sign-up.
Farm owners cannot enroll in either program unless they have a share interest in crops produced on the farm.
The election decision-making is limited to operator of the farm and landowners with a crop share interest in the crops grown on the farm in 2024. No election is permanent and can always be changed before the sign-up deadline in the current year.
Farms that change operators, owners or producers in 2024 will always require a new ARC/PLC contract be signed with FSA.
Back in 2018, producers were able to sign a multi-year contract that ran for the five years of the farm bill. If an election on a crop or on a farm was ever changed by a producer, then the multi-year contract was terminated. The multi-year contracts that were still in effect for 2023 will roll over and continue for 2024.
One last reminder is that cotton producers who are considering taking out STAX, which is supplemental insurance coverage for crop insurance available only to cotton producers, should talk to their crop insurance agent before the Feb. 28 crop insurance sale closing date and decide on whether to take out the optional STAX coverage or not.
Enrollment in STAX can only be valid if a cotton producer withdraws all farms that 2024 cotton is planted on from the ARC/PLC 2024 seed cotton program by the March 15, 2024, deadline.
