What Happened?
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) estimates federal farm income support payments through Price Loss Coverage (PLC) and Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) at $13.2 billion for crop year 2025, the largest single-year PLC figure in data covering crop years 2014 through 2025, and those payments were disbursed on Oct. 1.
A new Congressional Research Service (CRS) report says the USDA estimates federal farm income support payments through PLC and ARC at $13.2 billion for crop year 2025. That figure is 132 times the 2023 actual total of $0.1 billion. ARC County payments alone are estimated at $2.0 billion, four times the 2023 actual of $0.5 billion. Both figures are USDA estimates as of March and should be read as provisional.
Why Does it Matter to Me?
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed July 4, 2025, raised the reference price for soybeans by $1.60 per bushel, from $8.40 to $10, the largest absolute per-bushel increase among the commodities listed in the report.
The same law raised the payment limit from $125,000 to $155,000 per person or legal entity and authorized up to 30 million additional base acres. It also extended both PLC and ARC through crop year 2031. Congress created PLC and ARC in the Agricultural Act of 2014 to replace earlier commodity support programs.
Both Sides, Now
The House-passed Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026, sponsored by Rep. Glenn Thompson (R-PA), would leave PLC, ARC, base acres, and eligibility criteria unchanged. Critics point to structural gaps.
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO), in its February 2026 baseline, projected PLC would trigger payments every year from 2027 to 2036 for barley, sorghum, rice, and wheat, but zero times for dry peas, chickpeas, and oats, a disparity the CRS report identifies as a potential source of geographic inequity.
Statutory price-averaging rules delay payments more than a year after harvest, so they may not address farmers' cash-flow needs during low-price years.
What Happens Next?
The House passed its farm bill version on April 30; the Senate Agriculture Committee's version was placed on the Senate Legislative Calendar on Sept. 24. The two chambers have not reconciled their versions, and no standalone 2026 farm bill has been enacted.
The Senate Agriculture Committee's version of the bill would require a study of making dry beans eligible for PLC and ARC, grant an additional 1.5 million base acres, and allow certain tax preparers to submit forms on farmers' behalf.
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