House Agriculture Committee Ranking Member Collin Peterson today joined U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and other farm leaders at an event to unveil the new Agricultural Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC) programs, new risk management tools authorized by the 2014 Farm Bill.
Peterson made the following statement:
“The 2014 Farm Bill made important reforms to farm programs and provides farmers with a choice of a price or revenue-based safety net that will only provide assistance if there is a price or crop loss. Beginning Monday, farmers will be able to visit their local FSA offices to learn more about these important risk management tools and make the best decision for their individual operation. I have been closely following USDA’s efforts to implement the 2014 Farm Bill and am pleased to see implementation of ARC and PLC move ahead.”
The farm bill authorized $3 million for farm program education. The Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute (FAPRI) at the University of Missouri and the Agricultural and Food Policy Center (AFPC) at Texas A&M (co-leads for the National Association of Agricultural and Food Policy), along with the University of Illinois (lead for the National Coalition for Producer Education) worked with USDA to develop educational tools to help farmers choose between ARC and PLC.
Farmers can access these tools at USDA’s website – www.fsa.usda.gov/arc-plc
