Cotton is no longer a covered commodity eligible for enrollment in programs contained in the 2014 Farm Bill. Existing 2013 cotton base acreage is now generic base acreage. Generic base acreage is allocated annually to each covered crop planted. This is a departure from previous farm bills in which established base acreage was fixed.
Generic base acreage is reassigned each production year and is allocated in proportion to the current plantings/prevented plantings of covered commodities. Base acreage for covered commodities and generic base may not be greater than existing 2013 base acreage. Generic base acreage is eligible for Price Loss Coverage (PLC) and Agricultural Risk Coverage (ARC) programs. A farm with generic base acreage should enroll each crop contained in the Farm Service Agency (FSA) list of covered commodities in either PLC or ARC-County. Therefore, farms with existing cotton base acreage should have an understanding of the fundamentals of PLC and ARC in order to determine which program best meets risk management objectives for each crop that could potentially be planted. More information about PLC and ARC.
