Have You Signed Up For the Farm Bill?

It was late last week I read Minnesota was last in the entire United States in farmers signing up for the new Farm Bill. This week Gary Kunz from the Le Sueur County Farm Service Agency (FSA) office told me finally they and other County offices were very busy signing up farmers for the new Farm Bill. Remember, we are signing up for the 2019 crop year and also the 2020 crop year.

Farmers need to decide if they want to choose ARC County, Price Loss Coverage (PLC) or ARC Individual. These are the same choices as the previous Farm Bill. Very few farmers picked ARC Individual in the last Farm Bill. However, with the new Farm Bill in special cases ARC Individual may be a very good choice. If you had a lot of Prevented Plant acres this year and or very low County yields ARC Individual may pay very well.

For the majority of farmers the best options will be ARC County of PLC. A nice change with the new Farm Bill is that after these first two years ,we can change our choice each year if we think the other program may generate a better payment. Another nice change with the new Farm Bill is that you can sign up for multi years. After this first sign up if you do not want to change your program option the contract automatically renews for the next year.

Be sure to talk with your crop insurance agent, Ag lender and Farm Management Advisor and get their opinion on which program might be the most beneficial for your operation.