AMES, Iowa – The new farm bill contains two new risk management programs: the Agricultural Risk Coverage program and the Price Loss Coverage program, and before producers decide which is the best fit for them, USDA is allowing for some basic farm metrics to be updated.
Through February 27 of next year, producers have the opportunity to do two things: update their yields, and/or reallocate their farm’s base acres using the 2009-2012 crop years. The chance to change these metrics doesn’t come around very often, and Iowa State University Farm Management Specialist Steve Johnson says it’s a good idea to stop by the county FSA office.
“I think the reason that you’re reallocating and/or updating yields is because you can,” explains Johnson. “We don’t know how long we might go before you ever get a chance to reallocate base acres or update yields. So I challenge landowners to say, ‘Hey, whether I’m on this farm one year or a hundred years maybe I should take advantage of reallocating base acres and/or updating yields.'”
Johnson observes that cash-rent landowners aren’t eligible for potential ARC or PLC program payments, but still have the option to update. He says that may prove to be a challenge for such landowners.
“We’ve not done this since the 2002 farm bill,” says Johnson. “In many cases, it was the producer on the farm that was the one that was doing this update and/or yield, and I think what’s important is the landowner especially the cash rent landowner on these farms. They’re probably going to be doing something that they’ve probably not done. Maybe never.”
Beginning November 17, producers will actually elect one of the two risk management programs, and the decision they make will remain in effect until the 2018 crop year.
