The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is in the process of issuing $1.8 billion in payments to farmers who enrolled in the Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC) programs for the 2020 crop year.  These payments provide critical support to help mitigate fluctuations in either revenue or prices for certain crops.

These two USDA safety net programs help farmers of certain crops after facing the impacts of COVID-19 and other challenges.

In addition, USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) is encouraging farmers to contact their local USDA Service Centers to make or change elections and to enroll for 2022 ARC or PLC, providing future protections against market fluctuations. The election and enrollment period opened on Oct. 18, 2021 and runs through March 15, 2022.

2020 Payments and Contracts 
ARC and PLC payments for a given crop year are paid out the following fall to allow actual county yields and the Market Year Average prices to be finalized. FSA processed payments to farmers enrolled in 2020 ARC-County (ARC-CO), ARC-Individual (ARC-IC) and PLC for covered commodities that triggered for the crop year.

For ARC-CO, view the 2020 ARC-CO Benchmark Yields and Revenues online database for payment rates applicable to their county and each covered commodity.

For PLC, payments have triggered for barley, canola, chickpeas (large and small), dry peas, flaxseed, lentils, peanuts, seed cotton and wheat. More information on rice payments will be announced later this fall and in early 2022.

For ARC-IC, farmers should contact their local FSA office for additional information pertaining to 2020 payment information, which relies on producer-specific yields for the crop and farm to determine benchmark yields and actual year yields when calculating revenues.

By the Numbers 
More than 1.7 million contracts were signed in 2019.  In 2020, farmers signed nearly 1.8 million ARC or PLC contracts, and 251 million out of 273 million base acres were enrolled in the programs. In 2021, signed contracts surpassed 1.8 million.

Since ARC and PLC were authorized by in the 2014 Farm Bill and reauthorized by in the 2018 Farm Bill, these safety-net programs have paid out more than $32.5 billion to farmers of covered commodities.

2022 Elections and Enrollment 
Farmers can elect coverage and enroll in ARC-CO or PLC, which are both crop-by-crop, or ARC-IC, which is for the entire farm. Although election changes for 2022 are optional, farmers must enroll through a signed contract each year. Also, if a farmer has a multi-year contract on the farm and makes an election change for 2022, it will be necessary to sign a new contract.

If an election is not submitted by the deadline of March 15, 2022, the election remains the same as the 2021 election for crops on the farm.  Farm owners cannot enroll in either program unless they have a share interest in the farm.

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 and short grain rice, safflower seed, seed cotton, sesame, soybeans, sunflower seed and wheat.

Web-based Decision Tools
In partnership with USDA, the University of Illinois and Texas A&M University offer web-based decision tools to assist farmers in making informed, educated decisions using crop data specific to their respective farming operations. Tools include:

  • Gardner-farmdoc Payment Calculator, a tool available through the University of Illinois allows producers to estimate payments for farms and counties for ARC-CO and PLC.
  • ARC and PLC Decision Tool, a tool available through Texas A&M allows producers to estimate payments and yield updates and expected payments for 2022.

Crop Insurance Considerations  
ARC and PLC are part of a broader safety net provided by USDA, which also includes crop insurance and marketing assistance loans.

Farmers are reminded that ARC and PLC elections and enrollments can impact eligibility for some crop insurance products.

Farmers on farms with a PLC election have the option of purchasing Supplemental Coverage Option (SCO) through their Approved Insurance Provider. However, farmers on farms where ARC is the election are ineligible for SCO on their planted acres for that crop on that farm.

Unlike SCO, the Enhanced Coverage Option (ECO) is unaffected by an ARC election. Farmers may add ECO regardless of the farm program election.

Upland cotton farmers who choose to enroll seed cotton base acres in ARC or PLC are ineligible for the stacked income protection plan (STAX) on their planted cotton acres for that farm.

More Information   
For more information on ARC and PLC, visit the ARC and PLC webpage or contact your local USDA Service Center.