Due to a slump in 2014 commodity prices, roughly 1.7 million farms across the country that are enrolled in the USDA’s new Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) or the Price Loss Coverage (PLC) programs are on track to receive safety-net payments.

Created under the 2014 Farm Bill, the ARC program provides revenue loss coverage for enrolled farms at the county level. ARC-CO payments are issued when the actual county crop revenue of a covered commodity is less than the ARC-CO guarantee for that commodity.

Also created under the 2014 Farm Bill, the PLC program issues payments when the effective price of a covered commodity is less than the respective reference price for that commodity, according to the USDA.

Local USDA Farm Service Agency officials could not comment yet on what the 2014 county crop revenue was for Montezuma and Dolores counties, but noted the office was incredibly busy.

According to the USDA, crops receiving assistance include barley, corn, grain sorghum, lentils, oats, peanuts, dry peas, soybeans, and wheat.

According to the 2012 Agriculture Census from the USDA, wheat is the second-most commonly grown crop in Montezuma County.

State FSA representative Tammy Cook did note that a clear picture of localized data on per-county safety net payment rates was forthcoming as well as an intranet site to allow the public to easily access data.

In a statement from the USDA, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, explained that the ARC and PLC payment structure differs from previous programs in that it pays producers only when market forces or adverse weather cause unexpected drops in crop prices or revenues.

“Unlike the old direct payments program, which paid farmers in good years and bad, the 2014 Farm Bill authorized a new safety-net that protects producers only when market forces or adverse weather cause unexpected drops in crop prices or revenues,” said Vilsack. “For example, the corn price for 2014 is 30 percent below the historical benchmark price used by the ARC-County program, and revenues of the farms participating in the ARC-County program are down by about $20 billion from the benchmark during the same period. The nearly $4 billion provided today by the ARC and PLC safety-net programs will give assistance to producers where revenues dropped below normal.”

Nationwide, 96 percent of soybean farms, 91 percent of corn farms, and 66 percent of wheat farms elected the ARC-County coverage option, according to the USDA.

Ninety-nine percent of long- grain rice and peanut farms, and 94 percent of medium grain rice farms elected the PLC option. Overall, 76 percent of participating farm acres are protected by ARC-County, 23 percent by PLC, and 1 percent by ARC-Individual.