Decision Time on Farm Programs: A Closing Perspective on ARC-CO vs. PLC

Abstract

As the clock ticks swiftly to the March 31 deadline, farmers now have at their disposal all of the information they are going to have to make the farm program decision. Recently, price forecasts have been updated and the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) published their estimate for the 2014 crop year county average yields. With that in mind, this article seeks to provide a closing perspective on the ARC-CO and PLC decision for corn and soybeans by considering the magnitude of risk in forward markets and the implications for program payments.