Dissecting PLC Payments This Fall

Selecting Price Loss Coverage (PLC) or Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) is always a challenge for farmers, as some economists speculate about the long-term viability of PLC. This year, more than 3/4 of corn farmers selected PLC, which is said to be yielding a 14-cent/bushel payment. But those payments will likely be closer to just under 9 cents/bushel, one ag CPA says. Payments under the PLC program depend on FSA farm data, which show an annual increase in corn yields of 2.2 bushels/acre over the last decade. While PLC’s payments are gradually declining, coupled with CFAP#2 payments, corn farmers in the Midwest with a strong annual production history (APH) will see around $75/acre in payments on top of CFAP#1 payments. See more on PLC this year.