What's Up at the USDA Office?
Upcoming Deadlines/Dates
November 26: Office closed in observance of Thanksgiving
December 11: CFAP 2 Signup; Dairy Margin Coverage Signup
March 15: 2021 ARCPLC Signup
Enrollment Begins for Ag. Risk Coverage and Price Loss Coverage Programs for 2021
Agricultural producers can now make elections and enroll in the Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC) programs for the 2021 crop year. The signup period opened Tuesday, Oct. 13. These key U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) safety-net programs help producers weather fluctuations in either revenue or price for certain crops, and more than $5 billion in payments are in the process of going out to producers who signed up for the 2019 crop year. Enrollment for the 2021 crop year closes March 15, 2021.
2021 Elections and Enrollment
Producers can elect coverage and enroll in crop-by-crop ARC-County or PLC, or ARC-Individual for the entire farm, for the 2021 crop year. Although election changes for 2021 are optional, enrollment (signed contract) is required for each year of the program. If a producer has a multi-year contract on the farm and makes an election change for 2021, it will be necessary to sign a new contract.
If an election is not submitted by the deadline of March 15, 2021, the election defaults to the current election for crops on the farm from the prior crop year.
For crop years 2022 and 2023, producers will have an opportunity to make new elections during those signups. Farm owners cannot enroll in either program unless they have a share interest in the farm.
Web-Based Decision Tools
In partnership with USDA, the University of Illinois and Texas A&M University offer web-based decision tools to assist producers in making informed, educated decisions using crop data specific to their respective farming operations. Tools include:
• Gardner-farmdoc Payment Calculator, the University of Illinois tool that offers farmers the ability to run payment estimate modeling for their farms and counties for ARC-County and PLC.
• ARC and PLC Decision Tool, the Texas A&M tool allows producers to analyze payment yield updates and expected payments for 2021. Producers who have used the tool in the past should see their username and much of their farm data already available in the system.
Dairy Margin Coverage Program
Signup for the 2021 Dairy Margin Coverage Program is now open and continues through December 11.
Coverage levels range from $4 to $9.50 per cwt, in $0.50 increments. Coverage percentage of the dairy operation’s production history ranges from 5 percent to 95 percent, in 5 percent increments. If you locked in during the 2019 signup, your selections stay the same, but you still need to stop in and sign an application each year. If you did not lock in you can make the same elections, new elections, or choose not to participate in 2020. If you decide not to participate in 2021, you can still participate in 2022. You have the flexibility to participate or not each year.
County Committee Election
Producers in Ludlow, Jefferson, Post, Franklin, Linton, and Fairview townships should have received their county committee voting ballots the other week. The final day to return completed ballots to the FSA office is December 7. Committee members are a critical component of the day-to-day operations of FSA. They work to make FSA agricultural programs serve the needs of local producers.
Coronavirus Food Assistance Program 2
USDA announced up to an additional $14 billion for agricultural producers who continue to face market disruptions and associated costs because of COVID-19. Signup for the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP 2) began September 21 and runs through December 11, 2020.
CFAP 2 payments will be made for three categories of commodities – Price Trigger Commodities (corn soybeans, etc.), Flat-rate Crops (alfalfa, oats, etc.) and Sales Commodities (beef cattle, sheep, pigs, excludes breeding stock).
Additional information and application forms can be found at farmers.gov/cfap. Documentation to support the producer’s application and certification may be requested. All other eligibility forms, such as those related to adjusted gross income and payment information, can be downloaded from farmers.gov/cfap/apply. For existing FSA customers, including those who participated in CFAP 1, many documents are likely already on file. Producers should check with FSA county office to see if any of the forms need to be updated.
