NCC Appreciates Timely APH Announcement

MEMPHIS – The National Cotton Council commended USDA's Risk Management Agency (RMA) for implementing a farm law provision important to cotton production areas that have been hit with drought and other adverse weather in recent years.

This key provision allows growers of select spring 2015 crops, including cotton, to adjust their Actual Production History (APH) yields to offset the devastating impact of severe weather events. The APH Yield Exclusion, available for most farmers of select crops starting in the spring of 2015, allows eligible producers to exclude any yield from their APH database in years where the yield of their county or an adjacent county was 50 percent or lower than the 10-year average.

NCC Chairman Wally Darneille said, "Many producers across the Cotton Belt have incurred yield losses due to severe weather, particularly the past three years. This will greatly assist our producer members who are already making plans for next season."

The Lubbock cooperative official noted that today's announcement was another example of the excellent work by RMA in addressing the tremendous challenge of implementing provisions of the new farm law, which include the Stacked Income Protection Plan for cotton, the Supplemental Coverage Option and a host of other provisions.