[Listen] Kent Thiesse Farm Bill Sign Up March 15 PLC or ARC?

The deadline for signing up for the Farm Bill is March 15, 2021. However, I found out that I was already signed up. The first year apparently I signed up for every year of the Farm Bill. So, it was already taken care of. But, if you wanted to change from PLC or ARC for corn or soybeans then you would have to sign up again. Because I am staying with my selection of ARC on beans and PLC for corn I did not have to do anything!

It sounds like most farmers are going with ARC County on beans this year again. However, trying to decide which program to choose for corn this year is much more difficult. Granted we have seen a big rally in corn prices since last fall so it would look like ARC County for corn would be the best choice. Remember though, that the marketing year for determining the corn price is September 1, 2021 through August 31, 2022.

If China cancels some corn purchases and or we end up with 3 or 4 million more acres of corn this year we could see corn prices drop very quickly! Remember too that generally speaking PLC is a better "safety net" for really low prices that ARC.  We will not know until about 18 months from now new which program choice was the best. Kent Thiesse Ag Analyst from Lake Crystal said it would be nice if corn and bean prices stayed high enough that neither PLC or ARC would earn a payment this year! Click on the link and listen to Kent Thiesse discuss ARC and PLC.