WASHINGTON, DC -- Following USDA’s announcement of the Market Year Average (MYA) prices for rice on October 31, USA Rice has released an updated
Price Loss Coverage (PLC) payment calculator for the 2018 rice crop. This USA Rice-developed tool helps to project a farmer’s potential rice PLC payment.
Users are able to input their data to calculate payments, including base acres, payment yield, and the sequestration rate. Sequestration reductions to PLC and Agricultural Risk Coverage (ARC) payments are either 6.6 percent or 6.2 percent depending on when the Farm Service Agency (FSA) county committee approved the program contract, either 2018 or 2019, respectively.
The MYA prices that will be used to calculate PLC assistance for long grain and southern medium/short grain are $10.80/cwt and $17.60/cwt, respectively. Commodity program payments are soon to be on the way to those eligible farmers.
USA Rice has consistently advocated for the reauthorization and improvement of the PLC program in the new farm bill. The program is the primary tool that helps rice farmers manage their main risk, which is multi-year price declines. While the program does not make farmers whole, it is a strong safety net that provides farmers with modest support when they need it most.
“The PLC program truly is a safety net that will keep many rice farmers in business this year,” said Nicole Montna Van Vleck, California rice farmer and chair of the USA Rice Farmers Board of Directors. “With low market prices and trade disputes ongoing, this assistance is appreciated by many of our farmers who otherwise might not be farming next year.”