The US Department of Agriculture has opened enrolment in its two main commodity safety-net programmes, Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC), following the first expansion of base acres in two decades. More than 30 million new base acres were added under the Working Families Tax Cuts Act.

Producers can make their election and enrol for the 2026 crop year from 16 September to 11 December 2026, and for 2027 from 2 November 2026 to 15 March 2027. Because the acres found eligible exceeded the nationwide 30-million-acre cap, the Farm Service Agency (FSA) is applying a prorated across-the-board reduction of 3.69 percent to every newly allocated base acre.

"President Trump and Secretary Rollins are putting Farmers First by providing increased access to the farm safety net," said Under Secretary Richard Fordyce, adding that farmers can also change their programme election to suit their operation.

Landowners' window to correct base allocation summaries or opt out closed on 31 August; unchanged summaries are treated as accurate and the new acres are added automatically after the 3.69 percent cut. Base allocation notifications are available from 16 September at fsa.usda.gov/arc-plc through a Login.gov account, or from county FSA offices.

Growers may choose ARC-County or PLC, which cover crop by crop, or ARC-Individual, which covers the whole farm. Election changes for 2026 are optional, but enrolment by signed contract is required every year; the previous multi-year contracts ended in 2025 and a new one can run from 2026 to 2031. A farm that does not submit its 2026 election by 11 December keeps its 2025 election and is ineligible for 2026 payments.

Covered commodities include corn, soybeans, wheat, grain sorghum, barley, oats, rice, peanuts, seed cotton, canola, sunflower, flaxseed, lentils, chickpeas, dry peas and several minor oilseeds. In a change from previous years, producers may now add Supplemental Coverage Option or Enhanced Coverage Option crop insurance regardless of their ARC or PLC election, a restriction the same Act removed.

Source: Morning Ag Clips