USDA expects to issue about $13.8 billion in gross payments through its Agriculture Risk Coverage and Price Loss Coverage programs for the 2025 crop year. The department says that would be the largest annual payout since Congress established the programs in the 2014 Farm Bill.
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins announced the projected payments Oct. 7. The Farm Service Agency will distribute payments to eligible producers as calculations are completed.
The announced total is before payment limits and a mandatory 5.7% sequestration reduction. Those reductions will affect the amount producers receive.
Rollins says the assistance will help farmers cover operating expenses, prepare for another crop year and invest in their operations.
Changes enacted through the Working Families Tax Cuts Act apply beginning with the 2025 crop year. They include higher statutory reference prices and revisions to the calculation of effective reference prices used to determine program benefits.
For the 2025 crop year only, eligible producers will automatically receive the higher payment rate available through ARC or PLC, regardless of which program they elected.
The law also raised the statutory payment limit from $125,000 to $155,000 and provided for annual inflation adjustments. USDA says the applicable payment limit for the 2025 crop year is $160,000.
PLC payments were triggered for 16 covered commodities. Those include corn, soybeans, wheat, grain sorghum, canola, dry peas, flaxseed, lentils, peanuts, safflower and seed cotton. Small chickpeas, large chickpeas, long grain rice, medium grain rice and japonica rice also triggered payments.
Payments through the county version of ARC depend on revenue calculations in each county. A payment trigger in one county does not establish eligibility for the same crop in another county.
The two programs address different financial risks. PLC provides support when a covered commodity’s effective price falls below its effective reference price. ARC provides support when actual crop revenue falls below a guaranteed level.
ARC coverage can be based on county revenue or an individual farm’s revenue, depending on the producer’s election. The individual option protects revenue across the enrolled farm rather than treating each crop separately.
Producers enrolled in individual ARC coverage should contact their county FSA office for information about which crops contributed to a payment calculation. County offices can also answer questions about eligibility, payment amounts and enrollment under the other program options.
Enrollment and program elections for the 2026 crop year are now open.
The Working Families Tax Cuts Act authorized an additional 30 million base acres nationwide. Those acres will affect ARC and PLC coverage beginning with the 2026 crop year and continuing in future years.
Because eligible acreage exceeded the national allocation, FSA applied a uniform 3.69% reduction to newly allocated base acres.
Producers should schedule an appointment with their county FSA office to complete their 2026 program election and enrollment and review how the additional base acres affect their farms.
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