Wednesday, South Dakota Senator and Ag Committee Member John Thune introduced the Agriculture Risk Coverage Improvement and Innovation Act. He says this legislation will modify the ARC program to provide a more adequate safety net for farmers and offer an option for farmers to the Price Loss Coverage Program.

Under the provision the ARC program payment calculation would be modified to use a 10-year market price average as a cap on reference prices. It would also use yield data from the Risk Management Agency, instead of National Ag Statistic Service.

The bill would also ensure that payments are not being made for base acres on land that is no longer being planted to commodity crops. The measure is bi-partisan and was offered with Democratic Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown.