By Clint Thompson
The Georgia Cotton Commission reminds its cotton growers that the late enrollment deadline to enroll seed cotton base acres in Agriculture Risk Coverage program (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC) program is Tuesday, Sept. 30.
Producers can switch their base acres from the Stacked Income Protection Plan (STAX) to either ARC or PLC and incur a 60% premium penalty.
Taylor Sills, executive director of the Georgia Cotton Commission, talked about this latest development which is an option thanks to the One Big Beautiful Bill.
“Since the passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill, change to the reference prices for the 2025 crop, we have had contact from a fair amount of producers around the state, and I know this same thing has happened to state organizations, cotton producer organizations all over the country, as well as the National Cotton Council, saying, ‘If I had known that the reference price was going to be 42 cents when I made that purchasing decision I would have made a different decision with my STAX.’
“That producer can unenroll in STAX, pay a 60% premium penalty for that and then go to the FSA (Farm Service Agency) office and enroll in ARC or PLC by Sept. 30 which is already established as the late enrollment deadline. At the end of the day, that producer needs to go and communicate with their people at the FSA office.”