Fordyce: Farmers need to sign up for 2026, 2027 payments
Crop farmers will get subsidy payments for their 2025 crops in October without taking any action, but they must visit their Farm Service Agency county offices this fall to sign up for the 2026 and 2027 farm programs, Agriculture Undersecretary for Farm Production and Conservation Richard Fordyce said in an interview today.
Fordyce explained that crop farmers will receive their Agriculture Risk Coverage or Price Loss Coverage payments in October for the 2025 crops, although the exact dates those payments will hit their bank accounts have not been determined.
The payments will be made on the higher reference prices established by Congress under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
These programs aim to protect farmers from significant income losses due to fluctuating crop prices or revenue shortfalls.
But the 2025 payments will not be made on the 30-million-acre increase in base acres eligible for payments.
The payments on the additional base acres will begin with the 2026 crop. Congress “got pretty close” in figuring out the increase in base acres that would be needed, Fordyce said. After FSA analyzed crop histories from 2019 to 2023, the number of base acres came in at just over 30 million. To fit within that figure, FSA had to trim only 3.69% of the acreage for each individual farm. Some farm leaders suggested avoiding trimming acreage for some crops or in some areas, but Fordyce said the 3.69% reduction was applied across the board nationwide.
Farmers have already been notified of their increase in base acres, which will begin with the 2026 crop.
In October, Conservation Reserve Program payments will go out first, followed by the ARC and PLC payments. Fordyce also said that he does not yet know the total amount of payments that will be made to farmers for the 2025 crop. FSA has to run a “stress” test to determine farmers who do not qualify due to payment limitations and income eligibility.
For the 2025 crop, farmers will get the higher of the ARC or PLC payment, but for the 2026 and 2027 crop years they will have to make a choice between ARC and PLC, he emphasized.
The ARC program provides payments when the actual revenue for a farm is less than a guarantee set based on historical data and market conditions. The PLC program provides payments when the effective price for a covered commodity falls below its effective reference price.
The signup for 2026 started Sept. 16 and will run through Dec. 11. The signup for 2027 begins Nov. 2 and ends March 15, 2027. A farmer who goes to the FSA county office between Nov. 2 and Dec. 11 can sign up for both crop years at the same time, Fordyce said.
Fordyce also noted that previous law had said that a farmer participating in the ARC program who had crop insurance could not use the supplemental coverage option (SCO) for crop insurance, but that prohibition has been lifted. SCO was not prohibited for PLC participants.
