The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) started making safety-net payments on Monday to approximately half of the 1.7 million farms in the Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) or Price Loss Coverage (PLC) programs.
"Unlike the old direct payments program, which paid farmers in good years and bad, the 2014 Farm Bill authorized a new safety net that protects producers only when market forces or adverse weather cause unexpected drops in crop prices or revenues," Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said. "For example, the corn price for 2014 is 30 percent below the historical benchmark price used by the ARC-County program, and revenues of the farms participating in the ARC-County program are down by about $20 billion from the benchmark during the same period. The nearly $4 billion provided today by the ARC and PLC safety net programs will give assistance to producers where revenues dropped below normal."
Nationwide, 96 percent of soybean farms, 91 percent of corn farms, and 66 percent of wheat farms elected the ARC-County coverage option. Ninety-nine percent of long grain rice and peanut farms, and 94 percent of medium grain rice farms elected the PLC option.
Disbursements will be made in the coming months after marketing year average prices are published by the USDA. ARC-County and PLC participants who grow long and medium grain rice (except temperate Japonica rice) can expect disbursement in November, while remaining oilseeds and chickpeas will see disbursement in December and temperate Japonica rice payments will occur in early February 2016.
ARC-individual payments will be in November.
More Stories
- CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF FOOD & AGRICULTURE: CDFA Announces one Vacancy on the Citrus Pest and Disease Prevention Committee
- AMERICAN FARM BUREAU FEDERATION: Support Ag Literacy Through the AFB Foundation for Agriculture’s Online Silent Auction
- AMERICAN FARM BUREAU FEDERATION: Farm Bureau: Members Accept Leadership Roles on National Committees
- CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF FOOD & AGRICULTURE: CDFA Office of the Farm to Fork Invites Application for 2021 Farm to School Grants
- CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF FOOD & AGRICULTURE: CDFA Awards Funding to Support Agricultural Education and Leadership Opportunities as part of the Calag Plate Program
- AMERICAN FARM BUREAU FEDERATION: AFBF Welcomes Nomination of Katherine Tai for U.S. Trade Representative
- CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF FOOD & AGRICULTURE: CDFA Announces Vacancies on Feed Inspection Advisory Board Technical Advisory Subcomittee
- AMERICAN FARM BUREAU FEDERATION: AFBF Stands-Up for Farmers in Predatory Shakedown
- CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF FOOD & AGRICULTURE: CFDA Issues Stop Use Notice and Statewide Quarantine on Organic Fertilizer AGRO Gold WS
- AMERICAN FARM BUREAU FEDERATION: Registration Open for American Farm Bureau Virtual Convention, Featuring Mike Rowe, Rorke Denver and Beth Ford