USDA Opens Review for Farmers Seeking More ARC and PLC Base Acres

The U.S. Department of Agriculture will give eligible landowners a limited window to seek increases in the base acres used in two major federal farm-safety-net programs, creating a nationwide administrative deadline for farms enrolled in Agriculture Risk Coverage and Price Loss Coverage.

The USDA Farm Service Agency said the review period will run from June 1 through Aug. 31, 2026. During that period, eligible landowners may review their Base Allocation Summary and consider requesting additional base acres through their local FSA county office.

The opportunity was announced May 26, 2026. It was authorized by the Working Families Tax Cuts Act, which was signed July 4, 2025.

What landowners can request

Base acres are the acreage allocations used in determining a farm’s participation in ARC and PLC. The two programs provide financial protection when prices or revenues for covered commodities decline. An increase in a farm’s base-acre allocation can therefore affect its future eligibility and potential payments under those programs.

The USDA says up to 30 million new base acres can be added nationwide. That figure is a national ceiling, not a promise that every eligible farm will receive additional acres or that all requested acres will be approved.

If eligible requests exceed the 30-million-acre cap, the agency will prorate approved increases. In practical terms, that means a qualifying request could be reduced if total demand is greater than the acreage available under the law.

Eligibility requirements

Eligible farms must generally show that covered commodities were planted, or that planting was prevented, during at least part of the 2019-2023 period. They must also satisfy acreage conditions connected to their existing base acres and cropland.

The review is directed at eligible landowners, but the consequences also matter to farm operators and rural agricultural businesses that rely on federal safety-net programs. Base-acre decisions can become part of the financial planning surrounding a farm, including decisions involving future program participation and rural credit.

The USDA’s announcement does not establish how many acres will ultimately be approved. It also does not specify the size of any resulting payments. A request for additional base acres should not be treated as a guarantee of payment, because approval depends on the eligibility requirements and, potentially, the nationwide proration process.

What happens next

Landowners who believe their farms may qualify have from June 1 until Monday, Aug. 31, 2026, to review their Base Allocation Summary and consider submitting a request. The FSA county offices are the USDA’s local point of contact for producers seeking to review their records and pursue the opportunity.

The deadline is the next known step in the process. After the review period closes, USDA will have to determine which requests meet the program requirements and whether the total demand requires proration. The announcement does not provide a later approval date or an estimate of the payment effect.

For producers, the immediate issue is therefore administrative rather than a guaranteed change in farm income: reviewing the farm’s records, checking the 2019-2023 planting or prevented-planting history and determining whether the acreage conditions are met before Aug. 31.