Brown, Thune Introduce Bipartisan Legislation to Improve the Agriculture Risk Coverage Program

U.S. Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and John Thune (R-SD), members of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, unveiled bipartisan legislation they are advocating to be included in the 2018 farm bill. The Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) Improvement and Innovation Act would improve the current ARC program by modifying the payment calculation and other parts of the program to improve its safety net potential. Currently, no similar legislative proposals to improve ARC have been introduced during the 115th Congress.  By providing more equitable support prices that are reflective of the actual market value for all crops and using a 10-year market price average as a cap on reference prices, the Brown-Thune bill would take an important step toward ensuring farm programs are more fiscally responsible for taxpayers. The bill would also ensure that payments are not being made for base acres on land that is no longer being planted with commodity crops. Beginning farmers would, for the first time since 2002, have a new opportunity, based on planting history, to become eligible for new or additional base acres on certain farms that were previously ineligible or only eligible for limited commodity program assistance.