Webinars will discuss critical farm law implementationWebinars will discuss critical farm law implementation

Cotton farmers and others involved in the cotton industry have several opportunities to learn how the 2018 farm law will affect their operations through a series of webinars conducted by the National Cotton Council, Memphis, Tenn.

“Now that sign-up for the 2018 farm law has begun, National Cotton Council staff will be conducting farm law education webinars to discuss how this law will be implemented,” says Gary Adams, President and CEO, National Cotton Council.

“All cotton industry members and other interested parties are urged to participate and access this timely information. Organizations or individuals also are encouraged to relay this information to their respective financial institutions and other agri-businesses,” Adams adds.

“All webinars will cover the same information on Seed Cotton ARC/PLC election, 2019 and 2020 crop enrollment, marketing loan provisions, program eligibility provisions and the Economic Adjustment Assistance for Textile Mills.”

The dates and times (all Central) are:

Any questions can be forwarded to the NCC office or the appropriate NCC Member Services representative.

How to Access

NCC staff note that webinar participants will need to use Zoom software. To connect, click https://cotton.zoom.us/j/589146147.  (If this is your first experience with the Zoom software, you will be prompted to download the Zoom client). Please include your personal email address. Those hosting group sessions should provide the number of participants when prompted. ( Anyone having difficulty joining the webinar should email Michelle Huffman at [email protected]  or Shawn Boyd at [email protected] for assistance.) 

Related:Dodds: Unique challenges for 2019 cotton harvest

All webinar audio will be through computer, tablet or smartphone; no conference line audio will be provided. Participants will be unable to ask questions verbally but may submit them electronically via Zoom client. Presenters will answer questions orally. An electronic version of the PowerPoint presentation will be available prior to the webinar at the NCC’s website in the 2018 Farm Bill portal (Members Only).

Listening Groups

For those organizing webinar listening groups, NCC suggests the following equipment:

Small Room/Conference Room

Larger Room:

In addition to the webinars, the NCC continues to update its farm bill resources at http://www.cotton.org/issues/2018/fminfo.cfm. A list of frequently asked questions and answers will be posted following the webinars along with a series of short YouTube videos focusing on specific provisions of the 2018 farm law.

 Adams and NCC staff encourage cotton farmers and other interested parties to take advantage of these informative webinars. Farmers should be aware of important new requirements in the law and cognizant of critical signup dates.

As reported in a recent NCC newsletter:

The 2018 farm law (Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018) requires producers on a farm to make a unanimous election between ARC-County and PLC on a covered commodity by covered commodity basis, or ARC-Individual for all crops on the farm. This election applies for both the 2019 and 2020 crop years and must be made by March 15, 2020. If no election is made by that date, the election defaults to the current program election for the crop bases on the farm, and no ARC/PLC payments will be earned for 2019.

 Producers also must enroll the farm in ARC/PLC after making the program election. The deadline for 2019 enrollment is also March 15, 2020. ARC/PLC enrollment for 2020 will begin on October 7, 2019, and end on June 30, 2020. If producers choose to begin the election and enrollment process after October 7, they can complete the program election and enrollment for both 2019 and 2020 at the same time. During this time, owners of a farm also have the one-time opportunity to update PLC payment yields, which will take effect with the 2020 crop year.