Farm country is in line for its biggest safety-net payout since the programs began. The U.S. Department of Agriculture said on October 7 that Agriculture Risk Coverage and Price Loss Coverage payments for the 2025 crop year total about $13.8 billion, and that is before payment limits and a 5.7 percent across-the-board cut are applied. USDA’s announcement calls it the largest annual payout by far since the programs were set up in the 2014 Farm Bill. For farms, a second date matters just as much: sign-ups for 2026 close December 11.
What the $13.8 billion is, and what it is not
The $13.8 billion is a gross figure. USDA says it is the total of payments to eligible producers for the 2025 crop year before two reductions. One is the per-person payment limit. The other is the 5.7 percent sequestration rate that federal law requires and that USDA says will be applied to all ARC and PLC payments. What farms actually receive will come in below the headline, and USDA has not published a net total. The release quotes the Agriculture Secretary saying the payments deliver nearly $14 billion in funding for rural America, a rounded version of the same gross number.
When the checks arrive
USDA gave no payment date. The release says the Farm Service Agency will issue payments to eligible producers as calculations are completed. It also gives no average or per-farm amount, so a producer cannot tell from the announcement what a particular operation will receive.
For farm operators and landowners who share in crop income, the questions are when the 2025 payment lands, how much of it the payment limit and the 5.7 percent cut will trim, and whether the 2026 election is in before the window shuts.
The Dec. 11 ARC and PLC deadline catches every farm that has not filed its 2026 election, and a farm that misses it is ineligible for 2026 payments.
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New limits and more acres
A tax law that USDA calls the Working Families Tax Cuts Act raised the ARC and PLC payment limit from $125,000 to $155,000. For the 2025 crop year the limit is $160,000, according to the release. The same law added 30 million base acres to farms nationwide, with a prorated reduction of 3.69 percent on the new acres, per the Farm Service Agency’s ARC and PLC page.
The release says that for 2025 only, producers will automatically receive the higher payment rate of either ARC or PLC, rather than having to pick one in advance. Sixteen crops triggered PLC payments, among them corn, soybeans, wheat, rice, peanuts and seed cotton.
The release lists the crops that triggered PLC payments but does not break the $13.8 billion down by state, county or crop, so the announcement does not show which regions collect the most.
The December 11 sign-up deadline
The Farm Service Agency says the 2026 election and enrollment period runs from September 16 through December 11, 2026. Farms that do not submit their 2026 election by that date are ineligible for 2026 program-year payments, according to the agency.
Enrollment for 2027 is already scheduled. The agency lists that period as running from November 2, 2026, through March 15, 2027, which means the two windows overlap for more than five weeks this fall. A farm that is still working on its 2026 paperwork will have the 2027 window open at the same time.
How the 2025 payment gets reduced
Two reductions stand between the gross number and a farm’s deposit. The payment limit caps what one person can collect, at $160,000 for 2025. The 5.7 percent sequestration rate then applies to every ARC and PLC payment, large or small. On a payment of $100,000 that is $5,700 less, a figure worked out from USDA’s percentage, not stated in the release.
The 2025 payments also differ from what comes next. The automatic higher-of rule is described as a 2025 rule, and 2026 and 2027 enrollment is where producers make their own election.
Getting the 2026 election in before December 11
The free route is the local office of the Farm Service Agency. The agency’s website has a Find a Location button for county offices, lists the ARC and PLC 2026 election as a national deadline of December 11, 2026, and offers online appointment scheduling.
Before the visit, a farm operator can gather the farm number, the names of everyone who shares in the crop, and the acreage and crop records for each field. Writing down the date the election was submitted gives the operator proof of meeting the cutoff.
USDA has not said when the first 2025 payments will go out. The release’s own words are that payments will be issued as calculations are completed, and the Farm Service Agency’s county offices are where producers can ask where their own payment stands.
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This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.
