The Marion County Farm Services Agency Office is running 2024 ARC/PLC contracts now through March 15th.

ARC/PLC provides income support to the producers of Marion County, who will need to decide between Agricultural Risk Coverage (ARC-County) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC). The key differences between the two options is that PLC offers protection against low market prices, while ARC-County provides protection against low revenue. The PLC offers established reference prices for all commodities including Corn and Soybeans, while ARC takes the average market price for the year and multiplies it by the county average yield to determine average revenue. Marion County Farm Services Agency Executive Director Zach Andre says that while these programs are not directly a drought assistance program, they could help producers facing losses as a result of drought.

“Drought conditions will affect yields and yields can affect prices and it all kind of works together a little bit. Ultimately, it comes down to whether or not you think prices will be low or if you think yields will be low.”

Producers can call the Marion County FSA office at 641-842-3168 for more information, and have until March 15th to stop in and make their election. Hear more about the program from Zach Andre on today’s In Touch with South Central Iowa.