Farm Management

Webinar for 2021 ARC and PLC Program Year

OSU Extension will be offering two webinars this winter focused specifically on the ARC/PLC decision, reviewing decision-tool calculators available to evaluate options, and current market outlook. The dates for these webinars are January 13th from 1:00-3:00 pm and February 25th from 9 -11 am. Both programs are free to attend, but registration is required. Register online at: http://go.osu.edu/arcplc2021.

Additionally, OSU Extension and the Department of Agricultural, Environmental and Development Economics (AEDE) are offering several webinars between now and the March 15th enrollment deadline for producers to get up to date market outlook information. For information about AEDE’s 2021 Winter Outlook Meetings, visit https://aede.osu.edu/research/agricultural-policy-and-outlook-conferences/county-meetings.

 

ARC and PLC Elections for 2021 Crop Year

This article was originally posted on the Ohio AG Manager Blog at https://u.osu.edu/ohioagmanager/.

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 election defaults to the programs selected for the 2020 crop year with no penalty. While changes to program elections are optional, producers must enroll (sign a contract) each year to be eligible to receive payments. What does that mean? Even if you do not change your program elections, you  still need to make an appointment at the Farm Service Agency to sign off on enrollment for the 2021 crop year by the 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. Producers may want to amend program election to better manage the potential risks facing their farms during the 2021 crop year.

As you consider amending your program choices, here are some important reminders:

PLC payments are triggered by low prices. PLC is a disaster price program and pays when the marketing year average price is below a reference price. The marketing year average price (MYAP) is an average price calculated using cash prices across the nation over the course of a year. The 2021 marketing year for wheat is May 2021 – June 2022 and for corn and soybeans is August 2021 – September 2022. This means that the MYAP for 2021 for wheat will not be known until June 2022 and the MYAP for corn and soybeans will not be known until September 2022. PLC payments will only be triggered for a covered commodity if the MYAP published at the end of the marketing year are below the reference price. The reference price for corn is $3.70, for soybeans is $8.40, and for wheat is $5.50.

ARC-County payments are triggered by low county revenues. Revenues are calculated using the market year average price times the county average yield. When producers enrolled for 2019 and 2020, they were enrolling after the 2019 crop had been harvested. Yields for 2019 were known at the time of the enrollment deadline for that year. For the 2021 crop year, producers will be enrolling before the crop is planted.

Producers have less information about both price and yields for the 2021 enrollment period, compared to the last enrollment period. When producers enrolled for 2019 and 2020, we were more than halfway through the marketing year for each crop, so there was much more information on price expectation. For the 2021 crop year, producers will be enrolling before the marketing year begins.

The maximum ARC-IC payment is triggered in cases where an FSA Farm has 100% Prevent Plant acres. At the time of enrollment for the 2019 crop year, producers knew if they had FSA Farms that fit this description and were able to use that information to decide if ARC-IC was a good fit for a FSA Farm. For the 2021 crop year, producers will need to decide by March 15th if ARC-IC is still the right choice for those farms without knowledge of how many acres they will have in Prevent Plant. While some FSA Farms triggered large payments for ARC-IC in 2019, producers may want to re-assess this program election for the 2021 crop year if they do not expect to put those farms in 100% Prevent Plant in 2021.

For most producers, the number one consideration driving program election is the market. What are markets going to do? We will not know the MYA price for corn or soybeans until September of 2022, and a lot could change in that time.

OSU Extension and the Department of Agricultural, Environmental and Development Economics (AEDE) are offering several webinars between now and the March 15th enrollment deadline for producers to get up to date market outlook information. For information about AEDE’s 2021 Winter Outlook Meetings, visit https://aede.osu.edu/research/agricultural-policy-and-outlook-conferences/county-meetings.

Additionally, OSU Extension will be offering two webinars this winter focused specifically on the ARC/PLC decision, reviewing decision-tool calculators available to evaluate options, and current market outlook. The dates for these webinars are January 13th from 1:00-3:00 pm and February 25th from 9 -11 am. Both programs are free to attend, but registration is required. Register online at: http://go.osu.edu/arcplc2021.

2021 Small Farm College – POSTPONED UNTIL FALL 2021

THE SMALL FARM COLLEGE WILL BE POSTPONED UNTIL FALL 2021 WHEN WE CAN MEET IN PERSON.

Are you a small farm landowner wondering what to do with your acreage?  Are you interested in exploring options for land uses but not sure where to turn or how to begin?  Have you considered adding an agricultural or horticultural enterprise, but you aren’t sure what may be required for equipment, labor, and/or management?  Are you looking for someplace to get some basic farm information?

If you or someone you know answered yes to any of the above questions – then the Ohio State University Extension New and Small Farm College program may be for you!

OSUE’s New and Small Farm College is a five-session short course that will be held one night a week beginning in January.  The 2021 Ohio New and Small Farm College program will be held in four locations across the state including right here in Putnam County!  These sessions will be held at the OSU Putnam County Extension Office, 1206 East Second Street in Ottawa.  Classes will be held on Thursdays beginning January 21 and concluding February 18, 2021.

Face-to-face sessions will address the following topics:

  • Getting started with a small farm (goal setting, family matters, business planning, budgeting, resources)
  • Appropriate land use -Walking the Farm;
  • Small farm legal checkup and farm insurance;
  • Financial and business management strategies for decision makers of small farms;
  • Where to get help – an overview of County resources; OSU Extension, government agencies and programs, (i.e. CAUV, EQIP, grants, etc).

In addition to the five traditional face-to-face sessions, the 2021 Small Farm College includes on-demand webinars, podcasts and other resources and content that participants can access virtually. These topics will include: Horticulture and Livestock Production Enterprises; Natural Resources and Wildlife; Honeybees; New Crops such as Hops, Malting Barley, and Hemp; Marketing Alternatives, and more.

All sessions begin each evening at 6:00 PM with a light dinner followed by the nightly presentations from 6:30 PM to 9:00PM. COVID-19 precautions will be in place at all locations.  Due to spacing and social distancing requirements, class size at each location will be limited. 

The cost of the course is $100 per person, $75 for an additional family member.  Each participating family will receive a small farm college notebook full of the information presented in each class session plus additional materials.  Registrations are now being accepted. You may also find more information at the following website: https://agnr.osu.edu/small-farm-programs/new-and-small-farm-college.  For more details about the course contact Tony Nye, Small Farm Program Coordinator (937)382-0901 or email at nye.1@osu.edu.

Registration forms can be found on our website (putnam.osu.edu), by calling the Putnam County Extension office at 419-523-6294, by email at Scheckelhoff.11@osu.edu or stop in at 1206 East Second Street in Ottawa. You can also find us on Facebook by searching for OSU Extension Putnam County.

Farm Office Live – Monday Evenings from 8:00 to 9:30 PM

OSU Extension is pleased to be offering a second “Farm Office Live” session on Monday evening, April 13, 2020 from 8:00 to 9:30 p.m.  Farmers, educators, and ag industry professionals are invited to log-on for the latest updates on the issues impact our farm economy.

The session will begin with the Farm Office Team answering questions asked over the past week.  Topics to be highlighted include:

  • Update on the CARES Paycheck Protection Program
  • Update on the Dairy Economy
  • Examination of how COVID-19 is impacting agricultural exports
  • Bureau of Workers Compensation’s announcement  of dividend returns
  • A look at the long term macro economic impact of COVID-19
  • Will property taxes be delayed?
  • Potential Legal Impacts of COVID-19

Plenty of time has been allotted for questions and answers from attendees. Each office session is limited to 500 people and if you miss the on-line office hours, the session recording can be accessed at farmoffice.osu.edu the following day.  Please register at  https://go.osu.edu/farmofficelive