Hello Friends!
“And awaaay we go…” I am a little bit too young to remember much about the Jackie Gleason Show, but those who do remember hearing that famous line always knew there was something fun and exciting to follow.
That was quality comedy entertainment at the time. And just like Jackie did, your FSA offices have begun to provide some quality entertainment for you as you start the process of walking through the ARC/PLC program.
OK, maybe ”entertainment” is stretching the truth a little bit, and probably “comedy” will not be part of the process either, but producers should take the time over the upcoming weeks to stop in to FSA and get the ball rolling on their ARC/PLC sign-up.
For many producers, this new program enrollment will be a three-step process. Having worked with trial applications from a couple of patient farmers who volunteered to be guinea pigs for our office, it became very obvious that this complex program may be better understood if it is taken one step at a time.
Steps to follow
While in some cases it may be that some of these steps can be combined, particularly one-farm operations, I would recommend that you complete these steps in the order below.
Step 1 is to update your yield history and review how your base acres are allocated. Step 2 will be to make the election of PLC, ARC-County, or ARC-Individual.
Step 3 is to enroll your farm for the 2014 and 2015 crop years.
Now is the time to work on Step 1. FSA offices started accepting yield updates at the beginning of October. Producers will need to provide yields from the years 2008-2012 for any base crops they wish to update.
Yield updates are on an FSA Farm Number basis, and can be certified. If you do not bring records to support your yields, you may be asked to provide them at a later date. Any yield updates will require an owner signature on FSA Form number CCC-858.
Deadlines
All yield updates and base reallocation requests must be filed by Feb. 27, 2015. Base reallocation requests must be filed by this deadline as well. These reallocation requests can be documented on the same CCC-858 form used for yield updates.
Real locations must also be approved by the landowner. Producers have a choice on each FSA Farm Number to either keep the same bases they had at the end of the 2013 crop year, or have these acres redistributed based on the percentage of program crops planted from 2009-2012.
Prior year plantings will be determined from your FSA crop certifications. The Step 2 process of electing PLC, ARC-C, or ARC-I will begin on Nov. 17, 2014. Step 3, enrollment, will happen around next spring’s planting season.
We will have more information on these steps as those dates approach. Contact your local FSA office for more information on this program and to set up a time to complete Step 1.
That’s all for now!
FSA Andy
