Farm Program Payments And Projections For Nebraska

 

The USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) began issuing payments to producers in early October for Price Loss Coverage (PLC) and Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) programs for the 2016 crop year. These payments continue to be substantial, adding more than $600 million to cash flows for Nebraska producers this fall. However, this could be the last year of such large payments, as early estimates for 2017 crop payments to be paid in the fall of 2018 could be just one-third as much and 2018 crop payments in 2019 could be even less.

 

An analysis of farm program payment rates provides details on the current payments as well as the outlook for future support. The federal farm program support comes from commodity programs created in the 2014 Farm Bill. The legislation gave producers a choice of enrollment by commodity and by county in either a price-based program (PLC) or a revenue-based program (ARC) at either the county level (ARC-CO) or the farm level (ARC-IC for “individual coverage”). As commodity prices have declined from pre-2014 levels, both ARC and PLC have become important components of the farm income safety net and also substantial infusions of cash flow for producers.

 

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.