The sign-up is underway for the 2018 Farm Program at county USDA Farm Service Agency offices across the nation. Farmers will be making elections between the ARC and PLC programs for the 2019 and 2020 crops. Iowa State University Extension Farm Management Specialist Steve Johnson says the decision is easy for the 2019 crop. He says when farmers do that analysis, they should use national cash projections compared to the reference prices of $3.70 for corn and $8.40 for soybeans.
He says for the 2020 crop farmers will use cash projections from FAPRI of $3.56 for corn and $8.43 for soybeans and compare those to the reference prices.
Johnson says for farmers with extremely low yields or those that took a large amount of prevented plant acres in 2019, the ARC-IC or individual program may be best. He is projecting a $40 to $50 per acre payment on these farms.
Farmers can use a calculator from NDSU Extension to crunch the numbers. The initial deadline for farm program sign-up is March 15.
