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Morgan County FSA Updates! -  February 21, 2025

In This Issue:

• Producers Can Now Enroll in ARC and PLC
• Morgan County Soil & Water Local Work Group Meeting
• FSA Offers Livestock Indemnity Program for Livestock Losses
• Important Rates and Dates

Producers Can Now Enroll in ARC and PLC

USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) is accepting enrollments and elections for the Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC) for 2025 from Jan. 21 to April 15. ARC and PLC provide financial protections to farmers from substantial drops in crop prices or revenues and are vital economic safety nets for most American farms. The American Relief Act, 2025 extended many Farm Bill-authorized programs for another year, including ARC and PLC.

Producers can elect coverage and enroll in ARC-County (ARC-CO) or PLC, which provide crop-by-crop protection, or ARC-Individual (ARC-IC), which protects the entire farm. Although election changes for 2025 are optional, producers must enroll through a signed contract each year. Also, if a producer has a multi-year contract on the farm it will continue for 2025 unless an election change is made.

If producers do not submit their election revision by the April 15 deadline, their election remains the same as their 2024 election for commodities on the farm from the prior year. Farm owners cannot enroll in either program unless they have a share interest in the cropland.

Covered commodities include barley, canola, large and small chickpeas, corn, crambe, flaxseed, grain sorghum, lentils, mustard seed, oats, peanuts, dry peas, rapeseed, long grain rice, medium grain rice, safflower seed, seed cotton, sesame, soybeans, sunflower seed and wheat.

USDA also reminds producers that ARC and PLC elections and enrollments can impact eligibility for some crop insurance products including Supplemental Coverage Option, Enhanced Coverage Option and, for cotton producers, the Stacked Income Protection Plan (commonly referred to as STAX).

For more information on ARC and PLC, producers can visit the ARC and PLC webpage or contact your Morgan County USDA Service Center at (217) 243-1535Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC) x2.

Morgan County Soil & Water Local Work Group Meeting

Morgan County SWCD needs help identifying issues within the categories of soil, water, air, plants, animals, and energy. Join us for an informational meeting to share your resource concerns you may have with your property or in our county looking to the future. The meeting will be March 19, 2025 at 8:30am at the Morgan County Extension office located at 104 N Westgate Ave, Jacksonville, IL 62650. Please RSVP or contact the office for more information by phone at (217) 243-1535 or email at morganscwd@outlook.com.

FSA Offers Livestock Indemnity Program for Livestock Losses

The Livestock Indemnity Program (LIP) provides assistance to you for livestock deaths in excess of normal mortality caused by adverse weather, disease and attacks by animals reintroduced into the wild by the federal government or protected by federal law.

For disease losses, FSA county committees can accept veterinarian certifications that livestock deaths were directly related to adverse weather and unpreventable through good animal husbandry and management.

You must file a notice of loss and provide the following supporting documentation to your local FSA office March 1 after calendar year in which the eligible loss condition occurred.

• Proof of death documentation
• Copy of grower’s contracts
• Proof of normal mortality documentation

USDA has established normal mortality rates for each type and weight range of eligible livestock, i.e. Adult Beef Cow = 1.5% and Non-Adult Beef Cattle = 5%. These established percentages reflect losses that are considered expected or typical under “normal” conditions. In addition to filing a notice of loss, you must also submit an application for payment for 2024 calendar year losses by March 3, 2025.

For more information about LIP, contact your Morgan County USDA Service Center at (217) 243-1535 x2. or visit fsa.usda.gov.

Important Rates and Dates

March 11, 2025        March County Committee Meeting @ 9:00am

March 31, 2025        Deadline to enroll in DMC

March 31, 2025        Deadline to order fish at Soil & Water Conservation District

April 15, 2025           Deadline to Elect and Enroll ARC/PLC Coverage

April 8, 2025             April County Committee Meeting @ 9:00am

Ongoing                   Update your Farm Records

Ongoing                   CCC-902 Farm Operating Plan Updates

Ongoing                   FSFL and MAL applications accepted