As agricultural producers begin making decisions for the 2026 Agriculture Risk Coverage and Price Loss Coverage programs, USDA Under Secretary for Farm Production and Conservation Richard Fordyce is encouraging farmers to take advantage of online resources before making their elections.
Enrollment for the 2026 ARC and PLC programs opened Sept. 16 and continues through Dec. 11. The programs, administered by USDA’s Farm Service Agency, provide a safety net for producers when commodity prices or revenues decline.
ARC provides payments when actual crop revenue falls below a guaranteed level, while PLC payments are triggered when the effective price for a covered commodity falls below its effective reference price.
For producers trying to determine which option makes the most sense for their operation, Fordyce said their local FSA office can explain the programs and assist with enrollment, but FSA employees cannot tell a producer which program to choose.
“A farmer goes into the FSA office and says, ‘What program should I put my corn in? What program should I put my soybeans in?’” Fordyce said. “We really can’t advise producers on what program, what crops should be enrolled in.”
Instead, Fordyce is pointing producers toward land-grant universities and the decision-making tools they offer. Those resources can help farmers compare ARC and PLC using information about individual commodities and different price and production scenarios.
“Your land-grant university website, they’re going to have some analysis on what crops would be best suited in which programs, given the information that’s known today,” Fordyce said. “A calculator that you can run scenarios based on what crop you have and which program would be probably the most beneficial to enroll in.”
For Oklahoma producers, Oklahoma State University Extension provides ARC/PLC information and farm program resources through its agricultural policy and farm management programs. OSU resources can be found here:
OSU Extension ARC/PLC and Crop Insurance Resources:
https://extension.okstate.edu/programs/ag-policy-and-law/arc-plc-and-crop-insurance
OSU Extension Commodity Farm Programs and Decision Tools:
https://extension.okstate.edu/programs/farm-management-and-finance/e-farm-management-training/commodity-farm-programs
The 2026 enrollment period also comes with significant changes to the farm safety net. USDA recently completed the addition of more than 30 million new base acres nationwide — the first major base-acre expansion in two decades. Because eligible acres exceeded the nationwide 30-million-acre limit, FSA applied a 3.69 percent prorated reduction to newly allocated base acres.
Producers can elect ARC-County or PLC on a crop-by-crop basis or choose ARC-Individual, which provides protection based on the entire farm.
While changing a producer’s 2026 election is optional, completing enrollment is not. Producers must enroll through a signed contract to be eligible for potential 2026 payments. If a producer does not submit a new election by Dec. 11, the farm’s election remains the same as its 2025 election, but the farm will be ineligible for 2026 payments without completing enrollment.
USDA is also allowing producers to sign a new multi-year contract covering the 2026 through 2031 program years.
Fordyce said the university tools can give producers another source of information as they weigh the potential risks and benefits of ARC and PLC for their individual operations.
The deadline to make elections and enroll for the 2026 ARC and PLC programs is Dec. 11, 2026. Enrollment for the 2027 program year begins Nov. 2, 2026, and continues through March 15, 2027.
More information on ARC and PLC is available through USDA’s Farm Service Agency or by contacting a local FSA county office.
