By JEFF BURBRINK
Extension Educator, Purdue Extension-Elkhart County

This fall, there is a great deal of interest in the 2014 farm bill. There have been some major adjustments to the program. The Agricultural Risk Coverage and Price Loss Coverage programs are replacing the direct payment program of previous years.

There are two plans available through the Agricultural Risk Coverage program, also known as ARC. The ARC-County option estimates individual crop revenue based on countywide projections. Under the ARC-Individual option, farmers receive payments based on their own past revenues on a whole-farm basis.

Under the Price Loss Coverage program, or PLC, payments are made on a crop-by-crop basis if the national price of that commodity falls below the reference price established in the farm bill legislation.

Producers will also make a one-time decision to either retain or reallocate crop bases, to retain or update program payment yields, and they also must decide which type of coverage they want for the 2014 to 2018 crop years.

There are two free meetings scheduled in north central Indiana on Dec. 15, where you can learn how the new farm program works and also have a chance to work through some examples.

In Elkhart County, a farm bill meeting will be held on at 9:30 a.m. in the Martin Room located in the Elkhart County Community Center at the Elkhart County 4-H Fairgrounds.

In Warsaw, the meeting will be repeated at 6:30 p.m. in the sanctuary at the Purdue Extension Kosciusko County office.

Michael Langemeier, a Purdue Agricultural Economist, will be the speaker. The meetings are being offered by Purdue Extension, Purdue Center for Commercial Agriculture and the Farm Service Agency.