March is almost here, and with it, some important sign-up deadlines for key USDA programs. Don't miss out! 

March 1st Livestock Indemnity Program (LIP)

The livestock Indemnity Program provides financial support to livestock producers who lost livestock due to adverse weather conditions, certain diseases, and attacks by animals reintroduced by the federal government. Financial support can also be made to livestock producers who had to sell livestock at a reduced rate due to injury.

For death coverage, the livestock grower must have evidence that a death occurred and was caused by one of the eligible causes of death. Payment rates are 75 percent of the market value (determined by the USDA Secretary).

For injury coverage, the Livestock Indemnity program will grant payments equal to the national payment rate for the livestock minus the amount received from selling the animal.

The deadline to submit an application for payment to the FSA is March 1st, 2022

Find and contact your local FSA representative here (Find Your Local Service Center | Farmers.gov)

To learn more about the Livestock indemnity program click here (Livestock Indemnity Program (LIP) (usda.gov))

 

March 11th Conservation Reserve Program (CRP)

The Conservation Reserve Program grants farmers a yearly rental payment in exchange for removing agriculture production on certain areas of their land.

The deadline to sign up for the General conservation Reserve Program is March 11th, 2022.

The deadline to sign up for Grassland Conservation Reserve program is May 13th, 2022.

To sign up for either General or Grassland conservation Reserve Program, contact and find your local FSA representative here (Find Your Local Service Center | Farmers.gov)

 

March 15th Pandemic Crop Coverage Program (PCCP)

On February 10th, 2022, the USDA announced the continuation of the Pandemic Cover Crop Program (PCCP) for 2022. PCCP is part of USDA’s Pandemic Assistance for Producers and is offered by USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA). PCCP provides premium support to producers who insured their crop with most insurance policies and planted a qualifying cover crop during the 2022 crop year.

Qualifying cover crops for the PCCP premium benefit include cereals and other grasses, legumes, brassicas, and other non-legume broadleaves, and mixtures of two or more cover crop species planted at the same time.

The premium support is $5 per acre, but no more than the premium amount owed.

To receive the premium subsidy, cover crop producers must file a Report of Acreage form (FSA-578) by March 15th, 2022. To file the Report of Acreage form (FSA-578), producers must contact and make an appointment with their local USDA Service Center (see link below). The cover crop fields reported on the Report of Acreage form must match what the producer reported to their insurance company for crop insurance policies.

Click here for more information on PCCP: Producers with Crop Insurance to Receive Premium Benefit for Cover Crops | RMA (usda.gov) (Pandemic Cover Crop Program (PCCP) | Farmers.gov)

Click here to contact your local USDA Service Center Representative: Find Your Local Service Center | Farmers.gov

 

March 15th Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC)

Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) provides income assistance to producers by granting income support to farmers when negative economic conditions are present. ARC is issued at the individual farm level and by a crop-by-crop bases.

Price Loss coverage provides producers payments to producers when the effective price of the commodity is less than the reference price for that commodity.

Crops that are eligible for the ARC and PLC programs are: corn, wheat, soybean, seed cotton, rice, peanuts and grain sorghum, barley, canola, chickpeas, flaxseed, among other crops.

Contracts for ARC and PLC need to be singed each year. The deadline to sign a 2022 contract for the ARC or PLC programs is March 15th, 2022.

If you have a multi-year contract and wish to make an election to the contract for the 2022 year, the deadline to make the election is march 15th, 2022.

Click here for here (ARC/PLC Program (usda.gov)) for more information about the ARC/PLC programs.

Find and contact your local USDA Service center here (Find Your Local Service Center | Farmers.gov)

 

March 25th Dairy Margin Coverage (DMC)

The Dairy Margin Coverage program is a financial safety-net offered by the USDA that provides income support to dairy farmers during certain economic conditions. The Dairy Margin Coverage will provide risk management coverage when the difference of the national price of milk and the average cost of feed falls below a certain level selected by the program participates.

Participants pay a $100 administrative annual fee and can select a coverage level ranging from $4-$9.50 per hundredweight.

The USDA expanded the enrollment deadline for the Dairy Margin Coverage to March 25th, 2022.

Click here for more information on DMC (Dairy Margin Coverage Program (usda.gov))

Find and contact your local FSA representative here (Find Your Local Service Center | Farmers.gov)