By Clint Thompson
The Georgia Cotton Commission (GCC) reminds producers that the ARC/PLC sign-up deadline is Wednesday, March 15. Producers have until then to make their elections concerning agriculture risk coverage (ARC) or price loss coverage (PLC) with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farm Service Agency (FSA).
Taylor Sills, executive director of the Georgia Cotton Commission, discussed the importance of growers taking action for the upcoming crop year.
“These farm program deadlines are very important to our producers, and most of them know what’s going on, because they stay in close contact with people at their local USDA (U.S. Department of Agriculture) service centers,” Sills said. “Those FSA staff are instrumental to the success of our farmers here in Georgia, as they administer the Farm Safety Net which is so vitally important, not only to our farmers but our rural communities across the state. That ARC/PLC deadline is coming up on March 15.
“The STAX (Stacked Income Protection Plan) deadline was Feb. 28. Last year we had a lot of producers in the state take STAX. I suspect we still will, because the new cost of production in a lot of scenarios is outside the protection that the safety net offers. That’s something that I know groups like the National Cotton Council and Southern Cotton Growers and our Ag committees in Washington are studying, as well as all the other commodity groups.”