DES MOINES, IA — Agricultural producers who have not yet enrolled in the Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) or Price Loss Coverage (PLC) programs for the 2023 crop year have until March 15, 2023, to elect and enroll a contract. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) offers these two safety net programs to provide vital income support to farmers experiencing substantial declines in crop prices or revenues.

“The Agriculture Risk Coverage and Price Loss Coverage programs provide critical financial protections to many American farmers. As producers across the country deal with unexpected market volatility and natural disasters, these programs offer much-needed support and stability,” said Matt Russell, State Executive Director for FSA in Iowa. “I am encouraging producers to reach out to their county offices to learn about program eligibility and election options today, so that they can begin the enrollment process as soon as possible.”

Producers can elect coverage and enroll in ARC-County or PLC, which are both commodity-by-commodity, or ARC-Individual, which covers the entire farm. Although election changes for 2023 are optional, producers must enroll through a signed contract each year. Additionally, if a producer has a multi-year contract on their farm and makes an election change for 2023, they will need to sign a new contract.

If producers do not submit an election by the March 15, 2023, deadline, the election remains the same as the 2022 election for commodities on the farm. Farm owners cannot enroll in either program unless they have a share interest in the commodity.

In Iowa, producers have completed 107,388 contracts to date, representing 66% of the more than 161,000 expected contracts across the state.

Producers who do not complete enrollment by the deadline will not be enrolled in ARC or PLC for the 2023 year and will not receive a payment if triggered.

Producers are eligible to enroll farms with base acres for the following commodities:  barley, canola, large and small chickpeas, corn, crambe, flaxseed, grain sorghum, lentils, mustard seed, oats, peanuts, dry peas, rapeseed, long grain rice, medium and short grain rice, safflower seed, seed cotton, sesame, soybeans, sunflower seed and wheat.

Decision Tools

In partnership with USDA, two web-based decision tools are available to assist producers in making informed, educated decisions using crop data specific to their respective farming operations:

• Gardner-farmdoc Payment Calculator, a tool available through the University of Illinois allows producers to estimate payments for farms and counties for ARC-CO and PLC.
• ARC and PLC Decision Tool, a tool available through Texas A&M University that allows producers to estimate payments and yield updates and expected payments for 2023.

Crop Insurance Considerations and Decision Deadline

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.

Unlike SCO, the Enhanced Coverage Option (ECO) is unaffected by an ARC election. Producers may add ECO regardless of the farm program election.

Upland cotton farmers who choose to enroll seed cotton base acres in ARC or PLC are ineligible for the stacked income protection plan (STAX) on their planted cotton acres for that farm.

Producers should contact their crop insurance agent to make certain that the election and enrollment made at FSA follows their intention to participate in STAX or SCO coverage. Producers have until March 15, 2023, to make the appropriate changes or cancel their ARC or PLC contract.

More Information

For more information on ARC and PLC, producers can visit the ARC and PLC webpage or contact their local USDA Service Center.

USDA touches the lives of all Americans each day in so many positive ways. In the Biden-Harris administration, USDA is transforming America’s food system with a greater focus on more resilient local and regional food production, fairer markets for all producers, ensuring access to healthy and nutritious food in all communities, building new markets and streams of income for farmers and producers using climate smart food and forestry practices, making historic investments in infrastructure and clean energy capabilities in rural America, and committing to equity across the Department by removing systemic barriers and building a workforce more representative of America. To learn more, visit www.usda.gov.

By O. Kay Henderson (Radio Iowa)

A more than $4 million legal settlement has been reached with a dozen former University of Iowa football players and the three member State Appeals Board meets this afternoon to review and approve it. The players alleged the Hawkeye program was a racially hostile environment for black players.

State Auditor Rob Sand, a member of the Appeals Board, will vote against the settlement because Iowa taxpayers would pay $2 million of it. “This is now the fourth discrimination settlement while Gary Barta has been the athletic director at the University of Iowa,” Sand said during a news conference in his statehouse office. “Enough is enough.”

Sand, who is a graduate of the University of Iowa law school, said the only way he’d support the settlement is if Barta is ousted and forfeits any severance pay. “There’s a certain point at which an institution needs to communicate to the public that it isn’t just a group of insiders protecting each other and that’s what I think this settlement feels like unless Barta’s gone.”

Barta has not responded to Sand’s remarks, but issued a written statement this morning about the settlement. He said the University of Iowa Athletic Department “remains committed to providing an inclusive and welcoming environment for every student-athlete and staff member involved in our program.”

The attorney general’s office is recommending approval of the settlement with the former Hawkeye football players. In similar instances, attorneys have argued the State of Iowa could likely spend far more money if the lawsuit is heard by a judge and jury. Sand told reporters that’s not a persuasive argument in this case.

“The easiest way to save taxpayers’ money is to have the person most responsible for these kind of decisions taking care of them and having some accountability themselves,” Sand said.

Sand, who has been state auditor since 2019, has opposed three other legal settlements involving state officials accused of sexual harassment because taxpayers were covering the entire cost of the settlements.