Shawn Wade, Plains Cotton Growers | Mar 12, 2021
Officials at the USDA Risk Management Agency have clarified how they will determine a cotton producer’s eligibility for purchasing the Stacked Income Protection Plan (STAX) insurance endorsement on their 2021 cotton acres based on whether or not they have enrolled seed cotton base acres on a farm into either the Agricultural Risk Coverage (ARC) or Price Loss Coverage (PLC) programs. ARC/PLC are available through the USDA Farm Service Agency.
Legislatively, a producer is not allowed to have an active enrollment in the ARC/PLC program on seed cotton base acres and an active STAX policy endorsement on their insured cotton acres on the same farm (identified by FSA Farm Number) in the same crop year. In light of the earlier ARC/PLC signup deadline that USDA FSA set for 2021, the question arises of when RMA verifies the information a producer is required to report about the status of a farm’s ARC/PLC participation.
Key dates include crop insurance closing dates.
Southwest cotton farmers have some important dates and significant decisions to make over the next few weeks as they finalize crop insurance plans.
Shawn Wade, director of policy analysis & research, Plains Cotton Growers, addressed numerous federal and private crop insurance issues in a Feb. 17 Zoom seminar from the PCG Lubbock headquarters.
Shawn Wade, Plains Cotton Growers (
Photo courtesy of PCG)
Wade said key dates include the crop insurance sales closing dates (SCD) of March 15 for the PCG territory as well as New Mexico, Oklahoma and Kansas. Producers in much of Central Texas have a Feb. 28 SCD. The South Texas date was Jan. 31.