Texas farmers who plan to enroll in farm bill safety net programs Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) or Price Loss Coverage (PLC) in 2017 can begin signing contracts and enrolling for the new year starting today.

Farmers who made their ARC or PLC elections in 2015 must still enroll during the 2017 enrollment period.

“FSA [Farm Service Agency] issued more than $7 billion in payments in October 2016 under the ARC-County and PLC programs for the 2015 crop to assist enrolled producers who suffered a loss of price or revenue or both,” Val Dolcini, U.S. Department of Agriculture FSA administrator, said. “Since shares and ownership of a farm can change year-to-year, producers on the farm must enroll by signing a contract each program year. I encourage you to contact your local FSA office today to schedule an appointment to enroll.”

If a farm is not enrolled for the 2017 enrollment period, the farmers will not be eligible for assistance through ARC or PLC for the 2017 crop year if crop prices or farm revenues fall below the historical price or revenue benchmarks established by the program.

ARC and PLC were authorized in the 2014 Farm Bill.

They offer a safety net to farmers where there is a substantial drop in price or revenues for covered commodities.

ARC-County provides revenue loss coverage at the county level. Payments under the program are issued when the actual county crop revenue of a covered commodity is less than the ARC guarantee for the covered commodity.

PLC payments are issued by USDA FSA when the effective price of the covered commodity is less than the reference price.

According to USDA, the effective price equals the higher of the market year average price or the national average loan rate for the covered commodity.

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, sesame, soybeans, sunflower seed and wheat.

Upland cotton is not covered by ARC or PLC.

Local FSA offices can be found at http://offices.usda.gov/.