Agricultural Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC) Educational Tool Available for Farms with Generic Base Acres that Planted Seed Cotton

July 5, 2018 —The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) is notifying farmers with generic base acres that planted seed cotton that a new tool is available to assist them in understanding how the new seed cotton program may affect their FSA payments. It helps a producer make decisions on how to allocate generic base acres to other covered crops based on a producer’s planting history.

The educational tool can be viewed at https://www.afpc.tamu.edu/tools/cotton-base.

Developed by Texas A&M University, the tool is for educational purposes only, and by using the tool, it is agreed that the results are not a guarantee of future FSA program parameters or payments. Users also acknowledge that this tool is provided with absolutely no warranty, without even the implied warranty of fitness for a particular purpose.

The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 included seed cotton as a covered commodity under the Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC) program effective for the 2018 crop year. The Act also authorizes owners of a farm with generic base acres and a recent history of covered commodities a one-time opportunity to update the farm’s payment yield for seed cotton.

Complete details of this decision are available by reading the Notice (https://www.fsa.usda.gov/Internet/FSA_Notice/arcplc50.pdf)

Or by contacting your State or County FSA office http://offices.usda.gov.