Under a new policy announced last fall, the USDA Farm Service Agency will allow eligible farmers to calculate Agriculture Risk Coverage-County payments based on the physical location of each tract of the farm. Previously, farmers with tracts of land that crossed county borders were seeing their entire base acreage calculated under ARC-CO based on the administrative county designated by the farmers.

BEFORE APRIL 15: Prior to April 15, 2016 farmers have a one-time opportunity to change the payment county from the administrative county to the county where the base acres are located, if the farm has base acres that cross county lines.

Question: Can farmers change their county designation for ARC-CO payments?
Answer: Yes, but only a very small number of farms are affected by this, less than 3% in Iowa, says John Whitaker, state executive director of USDA’s Farm Service Agency in Iowa. FSA will allow eligible farmers to recalculate ARC-County payments based on the physical location of each tract of a farm, if that farm stretches across county borders.

In early March, the USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) sent a postcard to all farmers who have cropland in more than one county and are enrolled in the Agriculture Risk Coverage-County (ARC-CO) option of the farm program. Prior to April 15, 2016 farmers will have a one-time opportunity to change the payment county from the administrative county to the county where the base acres are located. You must contact your county FSA office before April 15 to do this. Contact them now if you have questions.

Question: How do I figure out whether or not it will pay for me to change the payment county?
Answer: You will have to recalculate whether you will get a higher payment by choosing the location county or not making any changes and continuing to use the administrative county for recalculation of ARC payments. Farmers may make a different decision on the county in 2015 than was selected in 2014. In other words, the ARC payment county is an independent decision between 2014 and 2015.

All Iowa State University decision tools for USDA farm programs are available online.