Farmers with land in more than one county “are getting a chance to re-assess whether they could collect larger payments” under the new Agricultural Risk Coverage subsidy for their 2014 grain and soybean crops, says DTN. USDA made the change in a letter to county offices last week.
Under the new policy, farmers can ask USDA to calculate their ARC subsidies on the payment rate in effect in each county where they have land enrolled in the farm program. Until now, payments were based on the rate in effect at the county office that handles a farmer’s account. “The change could lead to a dramatic boost in payments for at least some farm operators,” said DTN.
USDA recently began making payments on 2014 crops. It won’t begin payments on the 2015 harvest for months to come because payments are calculated on average prices over several months.