The Agricultural Act of 2014 provides for payments for covered commodities through the Price Loss Coverage (PLC) program when the market year average price is below the reference price. Agricultural Risk Coverage (ARC) program payments are triggered when the actual revenue is below the guarantee established for the program.

The Marketing Year Average (MYA) price for wheat, barley and oats was announced June 29, resulting in a PLC payment rate of $1.61 per bushel for 2016 wheat and $0.34 per bushel for 2016 oats. There is no PLC payment on 2016 barley.

For Agriculture Loss Coverage – County (ARC-CO), actual crop revenue is calculated by multiplying the actual average yield for your county times the higher of the MYA price or the national loan rate. For 2016, the following prices have been set – wheat at $3.89 per bushel; barley at $4.96 per bushel; and oats at $2.06 per bushel. 2016 county yields will not be available until this fall.

Agriculture Loss Coverage–Individual Option (ARC-IC) will utilize the same prices as ARC-CO, however the actual crop revenue cannot be calculated until participating producers report all production for all covered commodities planted on the farm and all MYA prices for all covered commodities planted on the farm are known. Both of these items are necessary to calculate the ARC-IC actual revenue for the farm.

All 2016 ARC and PLC payments cannot be made until after Oct. 1, 2017, or the announcement of the final 2016 MYA price for the applicable covered commodity.

For information on release dates for MYA prices, ARC-CO yields and projected and final PLC payment rates, visit http://www.fsa.usda.gov/arc-plc and click on the “ARC/PLC Program Data” link.