Decision-Making Guides for ARC and PLC

Signup for 2019 crop year closes on March 15; signup for 2020 crop year closes on June 30

Resources are available to help producers make decisions about enrolling in Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC), commodity support programs administered by the USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA), for both the 2019 and 2020 crop years. PLC provides a price safety net, while ARC provides a revenue safety net. Signup for the 2019 crop year closes on Mar. 15, and signup for the 2020 crop year closes on Jun. 30.

The resources were developed and assembled by Paul Mitchell, UW–Madison professor and extension specialist in the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics. The full list of resources can be found at https://go.wisc.edu/arcplcresources. This page features articles, videos, decision aids, program- and crop- specific recommendations, and spreadsheets of prices and county yield data for major Wisconsin crops.

An overview article of Mitchell’s recommendations for Wisconsin farmers is available at https://go.wisc.edu/arcplcarticle.

As an early step, Mitchell encourages producers to reach out and make an appointment with their local FSA office as soon as possible.

“Your local FSA office will guide you on the information you need,” he says. “They have a lot of farms to process by the March 15 deadline, and there is no value in waiting.”

For more information, visit the resources page above or contact Paul Mitchell at [email protected] or (608) 265-6514.