By Jessica Domel
Field Editor
Texas farmers and ranchers relying on farm bill safety net programs will have to wait a little bit longer to receive their checks this year.
Sequestration and implementation of new farm bill programs has led to a delay in the processing of payments for Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC) programs.
“ARC and PLC payments will be reduced by 6.8 percent across the board, and that’s true of all USDA programs except for conservation reserve contracts and the LDP payments that we make. Everything else is subject to sequestration,” U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) Administrator Val Dolcini said in an interview with the TFB Radio Network.
The 6.8 percent cut in payments is effective for 2014-2016. It will affect farmers regardless of when they signed up for ARC or PLC.
“We wanted to make sure we were implementing a policy that was as equitable as we could make it,” said Dolcini.
Payments will begin going out to farmers and ranchers in late October.
FSA remains in its projected deadline for issuing payments.