USDA Announces Base Acre Increase Opportunity for Agriculture Risk and Price Loss Coverage Safety Net Programs

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) announced eligible landowners have from June 1 until Aug. 31, 2026 to review and consider base acre increases on farms enrolled in the Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC) programs, as authorized by provisions included in the Working Families Tax Cuts Act, also known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.  

Signed into law by President Donald J. Trump on July 4, 2025, the Act provides landowners with the opportunity to update and increase base acres in preparation for enrollment in ARC and PLC beginning with the 2026 and future crop years. Nationwide, up to 30 million new base acres can be added by eligible farms.   

ARC and PLC are cornerstone commodity safety net programs that provide financial protection to farmers when market prices or revenues decline. These programs help producers manage risk and maintain the economic viability of their operations amid challenging market and weather conditions.   

FSA began notifying eligible landowners, by direct mail, that Base Allocation Summaries outlining potential base acre updates will be available for review beginning June 1, 2026. These Base Allocation Summaries can be accessed online at fsa.usda.gov/arc-plc using a Login.gov account. Landowners who do not currently have a Login.gov account are encouraged to contact their local FSA county office to obtain their Base Allocation Summary beginning June 1, 2026. The Base Allocation Summary should be reviewed and any necessary actions completed by Monday, Aug. 31, 2026.    

Farm operators often maintain detailed historical planting records. Early communication between landowners and farm operators will ensure the Base Allocation Summary is accurate and all necessary actions are completed by the deadline.   

To be eligible for new base acres, a current covered commodity must have been planted or prevented from being planted on the farm during the 2019 through 2023 crop years. The farm’s average planted and prevented planted acres during that period must exceed the total existing base acres for all covered commodities in effect on Sept. 30, 2024, excluding unassigned base acres. FSA farm total base acres cannot exceed the farm’s total cropland acres. If eligible requests exceed the nationwide cap of 30 million acres, USDA will apply an across-the-board, prorated reduction to all approved new base acres.   

For additional information, producers should contact their local FSA county office or visit U.S. Department of Agriculture online at fsa.usda.gov/state-offices .  

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Wayne Creed

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