With the extension of the existing Farm Bill, farmers will have the same commodity title choices this year as they’ve had since 2019. Farmers will need to decide between ARC, or Agricultural Risk Coverage, at the county or individual level, and PLC, or Price Loss Coverage. This decision needs to be shared with the Farm Service Agency by March 15th.
“It’s an important decision this year because traditionally, I think most folks have been electing PLC on their corn protecting price with their base acres at FSA,” says Danny Pfoff, a crop insurance agent and grain market advisor for Strategic Farm Marketing based in Champaign, IL. “But what’s happened is we’ve had a pretty good farm economy the last couple of years and that trailing olympic average has beefed up a better revenue guarantee by electing ARC county. So, I think producers are going to be looking for guaranteed dollars wherever they can find them.”
Pfoff spoke at the annual First Farmers Bank & Trust Ag Summit event at Purdue’s Ross-Ade Stadium Tuesday. He used Purdue’s home Tippecanoe County as an example.
“The revenue guarantee in ARC county went up about $150 compared to last year. The tie on that though, connecting to crop insurance, I think almost 50% of our policies had SCO on the crop insurance and the tie with that is you had to be PLC in order to get SCO. So, if we’re switching gears to take the free ARC county election at FSA, it will also have crop insurance ramifications. So, you need to sit down with a trusted advisor to vet that out to see what’s the best fit for you.”
To speak with Pfoff or one of his colleagues about that decision, you can visit sfarmmarketing.com. Pfoff discusses this and provides his market outlook in the full HAT interview found below.
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