THE LOCAL NEWS OF THE MADISON VALLEY, RUBY VALLEY AND SURROUNDING AREAS

FSA safety-nets

Payout programs approach enrollment deadline

Montana agricultural producers may be eligible for financial aid from the United States Department of Agriculture.

The USDA Farm Service Agency has two payout programs, which are approaching enrollment deadline of March 15. The Agriculture Risk Coverage and Price Loss Coverage are financial aids for producers when reference crop prices are lower than specified levels.
“I urge Madison and Jefferson county agriculture producers to call the local FSA office today to make an appointment to enroll in the 2019 and 2020 ARC or PLC programs,” State Executive Director Mike Foster said. “We don’t want you to miss out on this important safety-net assistance.”

Producers can enroll in either of the programs, but not both. FSA has an online decision tool to help determine the best program, but some find to be unhelpful. The most effective way to determine which program to enroll in is an appointment with a local FSA employee.

As of the beginning of February, 10.47% of expected Madison County producers were enrolled in either the ARC or PLC program. Jefferson County was at 21.43% of the expected enrollment for the county.

Each program at the county uses 85% of the specific covered commodity base acres as the scope. At the individual level, ARC payment acres are 65% of the farm’s total covered commodity base acres. Base acres are tied to the farm, not the owner. They are crop-specific and represent the number of acres a covered commodity is eligible to receive program payments. FSA listed 22 crops as covered commodities for 2019 and 2020 including wheat, soybeans, barley and mustard.

ARC payments are triggered when the actual county crop revenue of a covered commodity is less than the ARC county guarantee. The revenues are based on county yields for the physical location of base acres.

PLC payments are triggered when the effective price for covered commodities falls below its effective reference price. The effective price is based on national averages. PLC payments will be paid on 85% of the farm’s base acres of each covered commodity.

ARC-PLC programs payments for Madison County producers were $215,337. FSA had 91 contracts in Madison County. Statewide, 38.26% of expected agriculture producers have enrolled to receive aid for their 2019 crops.

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The Madisonian

65 N. MT Hwy 287
Ennis, MT 59729
406-682-7755
www.madisoniannews.com

Cori Koenig, editor: editor@madisoniannews.com
Susanne Hill, billing: s.hill@madisoniannews.com 
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