2018 Farm Bill

Agricultural Risk Coverage and Price Loss Coverage for the 2021 Crop Year

by: Mary Griffith, Chris Zoller, Hallie Williams, OSU Extension Educators

Enrollment for the Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC) programs for the 2021 crop year opened in October, with the deadline to enroll and make amendments to program elections on March 15, 2021. This signup is for potential payments for the 2021 crop.

If changes are not made by the March 15th deadline, the selection defaults to the programs selected for the 2020 crop year with no penalty. While it is optional to make changes to program elections, producers are required to enroll (sign a contract) each year to be eligible to receive payments. So, even if you do not change your program elections, you will still need to make an appointment at the Farm Service Agency to sign off on enrollment for the 2021 crop year by that March 15th deadline.

Producers have the option to enroll covered commodities in either ARC-County, ARC-Individual, or PLC. Program elections are made on a crop-by-crop basis unless selecting ARC-Individual where all crops under that FSA Farm Number fall under that program. These are the same program options that were available to producers during the 2019 and 2020 crop years. In some cases, producers may want to amend program election to better manage the potential risks facing their farms during the 2021 crop year. Continue reading →

Upcoming Farm Bill Meetings

Both the Paulding County Extension Office and the Statewide Extension Office will be hosting a series of online Farm Bill Meetings.  Our Paulding County meeting will include information from the local FSA Office with specific county information and updates.  The statewide series will have much of the same information without our local contacts. See the statewide flyer listed here: 2021 ARC.PLC Flyer Statewide

For the local Paulding County meeting, it will be held via ZOOM on Friday, January 29 from 7:30 AM until 8:30 AM during the monthly Paulding County Virtual Coffee Shop. The registration is located at go.osu.edu/pauldingFB21. Registration is required. I will be recording this session and placing it on the Paulding County Extension YouTube Channel.

A few reminders and questions I have received in the office:

  1. With the 2018 Farm Bill participants now have the election to choose programs yearly.  The deadline for signing up for the calendar year 2021 program is March 15. (This now aligns with the crop insurance deadline.)
  2. The opportunity to update the PLC yield on your base acres was only available last year. This is not an option for 2021. This additionally usually required the signature of the landowner and this is not the case for the program elections of PLC, ARC-CO, or ARC-IC in 2021. FSA in Paulding County will be mailing contracts to those producers who elected to sign a 5-year contract.  These will need to be signed and returned.
  3. In the calendar year 2020, one was signing up for both the 2019 and 2020 program by March 15, 2020. This decision for 2021 will be made by March 15, 2021, and is more difficult to predict payment potential. The marketing year doesn’t start until after September 1, 2021, for corn and soybeans. Also, the PLC and ARC-CO programs are based upon base acres on the farm not what the producer is planting. ARC-IC is based upon what the producer is planting.
  4. Due to the prevent plant season and delay of the 2018 Farm Bill, many producers had the opportunity in 2020 to elect program choices of ARC-CO, PLC, and ARC-IC for the 2019 and 2020 crop year. With the heavy number of preventing plant acres in NW Ohio in 2019, many farms elected ARC-IC.  This program may or may not be attractive for the 2021 calendar year (election producers are making currently) based on different scenarios.
  5. Remember payments are made for the following year for the current program year (i.e. – in September 2021, producers will receive payments for the 2020 election choices)
  6. If a producer does not make an election by March 15, the decision will stay the same as the prior-year as long as a contract is signed and approved. Again ARC-IC may not be your best option.
  7. These programs are another form of risk management on the farm.  I recommend that producers are not using this as a guaranteed payment and looking at it as a gift if payment is received.  With our current high prices, I would not necessarily bank on a payment.
  8. If a producer is looking at the Supplemental Coverage Option (SCO) – Crop Insurance. The only Farm Bill program that will allow you to purchase this type of insurance is electing the PLC program option.

Locally from the Paulding County FSA Office.

  1. The FSA Office is still closed to the public but there are many options for getting paperwork for the Farm Bill or other programs turned in.
  2. The office is in a bit of a transition as director Phil Lautenschlager has taken the director position in Hardin County. Left in the office full time is Kaye Brofford (kaye.brofford@usda.gov)and Neil Beining (neil.beining@usda.gov) and part-time is Kasey Mills (kasey.mills@usda.gov).
  3. If the producer does not initiate a call to the FSA to make Farm Bill changes the program will stay with what was elected in 2020.
  4. Please do not wait until the last minute (March 15 to sign up for the Farm Bill programs).
  5. The phone number for the FSA office is (419)399-3841, choose option 2 for FSA Office.