USDA opens safety net program enrollments

Sep 04, 2019

Producers have until March 15, 2020 to sign up

By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com

U.S. farmers can now enroll in one of two federal safety net programs.

Producers have until March 15, 2020 to sign up for either the Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) or Price Loss Coverage (PLC) programs for the 2019 crop year.

If a farmer doesn’t register for a program by the deadline, he or she will be automatically enrolled in the program he or she chose under the 2014 Farm Bill. They will also be locked into that program for the 2020 crop year.

The programs cover several crops including corn, soybeans, wheat, sorghum and lentils, and support farmers in different ways.

“ARC provides income support payments on historical base acres when actual crop revenue declines below a specified guarantee level,” the USDA says. “PLC program provides income support payments on historical base acres when the price for a covered commodity falls below its effective reference price.”

Some changes to the programs came into effect after President Trump signed the 2018 Farm Bill in December.

Prior to the 2018 bill, once a farmer selected a program, he or she remained in either the ARC or PLC program for the duration of the Farm Bill.

That’s no longer the case, said DeDe Jones, a risk management specialist with Texas A&M AgriLife Extension.

“Under the 2018 Farm Bill, farmers are going to have the option to switch programs four out of the five years that the Farm Bill covers,” she told Farms.com. “Program selections will be fixed for the 2019 and 2020 crop years, but after that they will be able to switch programs if they want.”

The payment structure and other elements of the programs are similar those in the 2014 Farm Bill, she added.

Producers can access tools from extension departments to help decide which program best suits their farm operations.

The University of Illinois and Texas A&M each have web-based resources to help farmers calculate payment estimates under both programs.

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.