What's Up at the USDA Office?
Deadlines/Dates
September 16 – December 11: Fiscal-Year 2026 ARC/PLC Sign Up
October 1: Fiscal-Year 2027 Mid-Contract Management on CRP Opens
November 2, 2026 - March 15, 2027: FY27 ARC/PLC Sign Up
December 7: COC Election Ballots Due
December 31: Deadline to Apply for OCCSP
USDA Announces 2026 and 2027 Enrollment for Key Price and Revenue Safety Net Programs, Completes First Base Acre Increase in Two Decades
Agricultural producers can soon begin enrolling in the Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC) programs, which the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently updated to include more than 30 million new base acres. This expansion, the first in 20 years, was made possible by the Working Families Tax Cuts Act and is part of USDA’s efforts to put Farmers First.
Now that the base allocation process is complete, producers can make elections and enroll for the 2026 crop year from Sept. 16 through Dec. 11, 2026, and for the 2027 crop year from Nov. 2, 2026, through March 15, 2027. Because eligible acres exceeded the nationwide 30-million-acre cap, USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) is applying an across-the-board, prorated reduction of 3.69% to all newly allocated base acres.
Base Allocation Notifications
The opportunity for landowners to review their base allocation summaries and take necessary action ended August 31, 2026. This included correcting inaccurate information, designating subsequent acres or opting out of adding base acres. Landowners did not lose base acres through the base allocation process.
If landowners did not notify FSA of changes, the base allocation summary is considered accurate and complete; however, an across-the-board factor will apply. FSA determined the base allocation percentage reduction using all acreage reported as eligible, and new base acres will automatically be allocated to farms after applying the 3.69% reduction.
Base allocation notifications will be available beginning Sept. 16, 2026. Landowners can access notifications online at fsa.usda.gov/arc-plc using a Login.gov account. Landowners who do not currently have a Login.gov account can contact their FSA county office to obtain their base allocation notification beginning Sept. 16, 2026.
Enrollment Period
Producers can now change their election and enroll in ARC-County (ARC-CO) or PLC, which both provide crop-by-crop protection, or ARC-Individual (ARC-IC), which protects the entire farm. Although election changes for 2026 are optional, producers must enroll through a signed contract each year. Existing multi-year contracts ended in 2025, but producers have the option to sign a new multi-year contract for 2026 through 2031. Producers who opt out of a multi-year contract can enroll for the 2027 crop year starting November 2, 2026, through March 15, 2027.
If producers do not submit their 2026 election by Deccember 11, 2026, their election remains the same as their 2025 election for crops on the farm, and the farm is ineligible for payments for the 2026 program year. Landowners cannot enroll in either program unless they have a share interest in the farm.
Covered commodities include barley, canola, large and small chickpeas, corn, crambe, flaxseed, grain sorghum, lentils, mustard seed, oats, peanuts, dry peas, rapeseed, long grain rice, medium and short grain rice, safflower seed, seed cotton, sesame, soybeans, sunflower seed and wheat.
Some land grant universities offer web-based decision tools to help producers make informed election decisions using crop data specific to their respective farming operations.
Producers can make an appointment with their local FSA office to complete ARC and PLC elections and enrollment.
Crop Insurance Considerations
Producers are reminded that ARC and PLC election and enrollment can impact eligibility for some crop insurance products.
Producers can now add SCO coverage or the Enhanced Coverage Option (ECO) regardless of their ARC or PLC election. Previously, producers who elected ARC-CO or ARC-IC were ineligible to purchase the Supplemental Coverage Option (SCO) through their Approved Insurance Provider for the same acres, but The Working Families Tax Cuts Act removed this restriction.
Upland cotton farmers who choose to enroll seed cotton base acres in ARC or PLC are ineligible for the Stacked Income Protection Plan (STAX) on their planted cotton acres for that farm.
Crop insurance information is available through USDA’s Risk Management Agency.
More Information
For more information on ARC and PLC, visit the ARC and PLC webpage or contact your local FSA County Office.
Filing CCC-941 Adjusted Gross Income Certifications
If you have experienced delays in receiving Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC) payments, Loan Deficiency Payments (LDPs) and Market Gains on Marketing Assistance Loans (MALs), it may be because you have not filed form CCC-941, Adjusted Gross Income Certification.
If you don’t have a valid CCC-941 on file for the applicable crop year you will not receive payments. All farm operator/tenants/owners who have not filed a CCC-941 and have pending payments should immediately file the form with their recording county FSA office. Farm operators and tenants are encouraged to ensure that their landowners have filed the form.
FSA can accept the CCC-941 for 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026 and 2027. Unlike the past, you must have the CCC-941 certifying your AGI compliance before any payments can be issued.
Actively Engaged Provisions for Non-Family Entities
Many Farm Service Agency (FSA) programs require all program participants, either individuals or legal entities, to be “actively engaged in farming.” This means participants must provide a significant contribution to the farming operation, whether it is capital, land, equipment, active personal labor and/or management. For entities, each partner, stockholder or member with an ownership interest, must contribute active personal labor and/or management to the operation on a regular basis that is identifiable and documentable as well as separate and distinct from contributions of any other member. Members of qualified pass-through entities must have a share of the profits or losses from the farming operation commensurate with the member’s contributions to the operation and must make contributions to the farming operation that are at risk for a loss, with the level of risk being commensurate with the member’s claimed share on the farming operation.
Qualified pass-through entities comprised of non-family members or partners, stockholders or persons with an ownership in the farming operation must meet additional payment eligibility provisions. Qualified pass-through entities comprised of family members are exempt from these additional requirements. For 2026 and subsequent crop years, non-family qualified pass-through entities can have one member that may use a significant contribution of active personal management exclusively to meet the requirements to be determined “actively engaged in farming.” The person or member will be defined as the farm manager for the purposes of administering these management provisions.
Non-family qualified pass-through entities may request to add up to two additional managers for their farming operation based on the size and/or complexity of the operation. If additional farm managers are requested and approved, all members who contribute management are required to complete form CCC-902MR, Management Activity Record. The farm manager should use the form to record management activities including capital, labor and agronomics, which includes crop selection, planting decisions, acquisition of inputs, crop management and marketing decisions. One form should be used for each month and the farm manager should enter the number of hours of time spent for each activity under the date of the month the actions were completed. The farm manager must also document if each management activity was completed on the farm or remotely.
The records and supporting business documentation must be maintained and timely made available for review by the appropriate FSA reviewing authority, if requested.
If the farm manager fails to meet these requirements, their contribution of active personal management to the farming operation for payment eligibility purposes will be disregarded and their payment eligibility status will be re-determined for the applicable program year.
In some instances, additional persons or members of a non-family qualified pass-through entity who meet the definition of farm manager may also be allowed to use such a contribution of active personal management to meet the eligibility requirements. However, under no circumstances may the number of farm managers in a non-family qualified pass-through entityexceed a total of three in any given crop and program year.
Update Your Records
FSA is cleaning up our producer record database and needs your help. Please report any changes of address, zip code, phone number, email address or an incorrect name or business name on file to our office. You should also report changes in your farm operation, like the addition of a farm by lease or purchase. You should also report any changes to your operation in which you reorganize to form a Trust, LLC or other legal entity.
FSA and NRCS program participants are required to promptly report changes in their farming operation to the County Committee in writing and to update their Farm Operating Plan on form CCC-902. To update your records, contact the Allamakee County USDA Service Center at 563-568-2148 ext.2.
Making Farm Reconstitutions
When changes in farm ownership or operation take place, a farm reconstitution is necessary. The reconstitution — or recon — is the process of combining or dividing farms or tracts of land based on the farming operation.
To be effective for the current fiscal year, farm combinations and farm divisions must be requested by August 1 of the fiscal year for farms subject to the Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC) program. A reconstitution is considered to be requested when all of the required signatures are on FSA-155 and all other applicable documentation, such as proof of ownership, is submitted.
Total Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) and non-ARC/PLC farms may be reconstituted at any time.
The following are the different methods used when doing a farm recon:
• Estate Method - the division of bases, allotments and quotas for a parent farm among heirs in settling an estate
• Designation of Landowner Method - may be used when (1) part of a farm is sold or ownership is transferred; (2) an entire farm is sold to two or more persons; (3) farm ownership is transferred to two or more persons; (4) part of a tract is sold or ownership is transferred; (5) a tract is sold to two or more persons; or (6) tract ownership is transferred to two or more persons. In order to use this method, the land sold must have been owned for at least three years, or a waiver granted, and the buyer and seller must sign a Memorandum of Understanding
• DCP Cropland Method - the division of bases in the same proportion that the DCP cropland for each resulting tract relates to the DCP cropland on the parent tract
• Default Method - the division of bases for a parent farm with each tract maintaining the bases attributed to the tract level when the reconstitution is initiated in the system.
For questions on your farm reconstitution, contact the Allamakee County USDA Service Center at 563-568-2148 ext.2.
