Enrollment for Safety Net Programs

I'm Lacy Gray with Washington Ag Today.

Earlier this year farmers were given the opportunity to choose between Agriculture Risk Coverage and Price Loss Coverage, the USDA Farm Service Agency safety-net programs established by the 2014 Farm Bill. Judy Olson, Washington State Executive Director for the USDA Farm Service Agency would like to remind eligible producers that they may now formally signup for the ARC and PLC programs for 2014 and 2015.

OLSON: They made their election; those have been processed, and they will be getting letters in the mail within the next week or ten days, and these letters are very important. These letters will have their base acres, their yield updates, and their election. And they need to check and make sure those are accurate, then they need to call their county office for an appointment for signup.

Enrollment deadline is September 30.

OLSON: September 30 is also the end of the government's fiscal year, and so missing that deadline could provide additional complications if producers are expecting a payment. We really hope that we can get everyone through the door; we understand harvest has already started for some folks and will be starting for others during this period, so we urge those that are harvesting to take a moment, call their county office and arrange for an appointment.

And for those that haven't started yet?

OLSON: Now is the time to call and make an appointment, go into your county office and get your contracts signed and then you can harvest and not worry about that.

That's Washington Ag Today.

I'm Lacy Gray with the Ag Information Network of the West.