The United States Department of Agriculture announced the enrollment periods for key farm safety-net programs.  The enrollment period for ARC (Agriculture Risk Coverage) and PLC (Price Loss Coverage) will run from January 21 – April 15.  For the DMC (Dairy Margin Coverage) program, dairy producers will have from January 29 – March 31 to enroll.

Photo by Loren King on Unsplash

ARC/PLC

Producers who have land with base acres of covered commodities likely qualify to enroll in either ARC or PLC.  These programs offer financial assistance to producers.  ARC provides payments when a farm’s actual revenue is less than a certain guarantee calculated based on historic data and current market conditions.  PLC provides payments when the market year average price of a covered commodity is below a reference price set by statute.

It is recommended that all landowners and tenant farmers take the time to determine whether the land they operate has base acres associated.  This can be done by contacting the local Farm Service Agency Office. Once a person determines what base acres are associated with his or her land, they then need to determine if any of the base acres are covered commodities under these programs.  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.

From there, landowners and producers will need to determine if they qualify for payments under these programs.  Again, the local FSA office can help producers determine their qualification.  For example, generally, if land is cash leased to a tenant farmer who raises a covered crop, it is the tenant who would qualify for the payments while the landowner would not.  If, on the other hand, the land was leased pursuant to a crop share lease agreement, both the tenant and the landowner could qualify. If there is no lease in place and the landowners is also the operator, the landowner will likely qualify.  Do note that for producers whose land was planted entirely to grass or was idle or fallow from 2009-2017, base acres will be maintained, but no ARC or PLC payments will be made.

If producers fail to make their election by the April 15, 2025 deadline, their election will be made into the same program as they elected in 2024. Qualifying producers still need to sign their contract for the 2025 crop year.

DMC

Dairy Margin Coverage is a risk management program for dairy producers that essentially offers a safety-net when the margin between the all-milk price and the average feed price falls below a certain coverage level.  This program, then, allows producers to protect themselves against declines in milk prices and increases in feed costs. The producer is able to select the coverage level, and the price to enroll in DMC depends on the coverage level selected.  Click here for more information.

More Information

For more information about getting set up at the FSA office and what questions to ask, listen to this prior podcast episode with Stephanie Fryer.  For more information on common USDA programs, listen to this prior podcast episode with Bart Fischer.

For more information on these upcoming deadlines, here is a USDA press release.