Penn State Extension educator John Berry will provide training on two new Farm Bill programs — Agricultural Revenue Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC).

There will be two meetings on Feb. 3: one from 9 to 11 a.m. and one from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Both sessions will be held at the USDA Service Center on Route 68 at the Butler Farm Show grounds.

There is no charge to attend and reservations are not required. Hopefully by conducting these meetings interested producers can make an informed decision regarding enrollment options for ARC/PLC.

If the Butler meetings do not fit a producer’s schedule, then contact the office soon to find out when and where more Farm Bill educational meetings are being planned. Most of our neighboring counties have meetings scheduled.

Essentially, producers with base acres on their farm may want to attend. ARC/PLC programs deal directly with acreage bases on eligible farms.

Producers will be informed of available options. Once a decision is made, enrollment options remain the same through 2018.

Producers also will learn how acreage bases can be reallocated. Countercyclical yields also can be updated to reflect higher yields from 2008-13. Interested producers should plan on attending to gain a better understanding of the options available for ARC/PLC.

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Feb. 27 is another important date to remember.

This is the final day for farm owners to complete two actions related to Farm Bill programs ARC/PLC.

One item is to update FSA countercyclical yields established for program crops. Most of these program crop yields were established in 1985, with exception of soybeans in 2002.

The other item to complete before Feb. 27 is to determine which base configuration is best for the farm acreage.

Bases can either be existing acreage bases or reallocated to more accurately reflect planted acres from 2008-12. However, regardless of which choice is made by the farm owner, the total acreage base will not increase.

For more specific information contact the Butler office at 724-482-4800, Ext. 2.

Luke Fritz is executive director of the Butler County Farm Service Agency.