REMINDER: ARC and PLC Election and Enrollment Ends March 15

Joel Foster, head of Grant County Farm Service Agency (FSA), encourages area producers to make or change elections and to enroll in the 2022 Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC), to provide future protections against market fluctuations. The election and enrollment period opened on October 18 and runs through March 15. Producers can elect coverage and enroll in ARC-CO or PLC, which are both crop-by-crop, or ARCIC, which is for the entire farm. 

Although election changes for 2022 are optional, producers must enroll through a signed contract each year. Also, if a producer has a multi-year contract on the farm and makes an election change for 2022, it will be necessary to sign a new contract.  If an election is not submitted by the deadline of March 15, 2022, the election remains the same as the 2021 election for crops on the farm.  

Farm owners cannot enroll in either program unless they have a share interest in the farm.  ARC and PLC are part of a broader safety net provided by USDA, which also includes crop insurance and marketing assistance loans. Producers are reminded that ARC and PLC elections and enrollments can impact eligibility for some crop insurance products. Producers on farms with a PLC election have the option of purchasing Supplemental Coverage Option (SCO) through their approved insurance provider; however, producers on farms where ARC is the election are ineligible for SCO on their planted acres for that crop on that farm.   

Additional information related to the ARC and PLC programs is located at www.fsa.usda.gov. Questions?  Need to make a virtual appointment? Call the Grant County FSA office at 605.432.6570, ext. 2.