In the 2014 Farm Bill, revenue support programs Agricultural Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC) were offered to U.S. producers who grow covered commodity crops. Crops covered by these programs include corn and soybeans, two staple crops in the state of Iowa. ARC-CO (county option) payments are designed to offer farmers a guaranteed 86% of benchmark revenue, determined by a county-specific benchmark bushels per acre (yield) multiplied by a benchmark price per bushel. In this article, estimates of the expected payment in each county in Iowa are depicted for the following scenarios:

  • Corn
    1. Scenario 1: Benchmark Yield at $4.00/bushel
    2. Scenario 2: 80% of Benchmark Yield at $4.50/bushel
  • Soybeans
    1. Scenario 1: Benchmark Yield at $9.50/bushel
    2. Scenario 2: 80% of Benchmark Yield at...