USDA’s Farm Safety-Net Deadline Is Aug. 31: What to Review

Eligible farmland owners have until Monday, Aug. 31, 2026, to review a USDA summary that could lead to additional farm base acres for future Agriculture Risk Coverage and Price Loss Coverage programs. As of Friday, Aug. 14, 17 days remain.

The Farm Service Agency says this is the first broad opportunity since 2002 to add base acres under the current process. Congress authorized up to 30 million additional base acres nationwide beginning with the 2026 crop year.

Who should review the summary

The opportunity generally applies to farms where a current covered commodity was planted or prevented from being planted during the 2019 through 2023 crop years. The farm’s average planted and prevented-planted acreage during that period must exceed the total existing base acres for covered commodities in effect on Sept. 30, 2024, excluding unassigned base acres. The calculation is also subject to USDA’s eligibility formula and the farm’s cropland limits.

USDA says total farm base acres cannot exceed the farm’s total cropland acres. Existing base acres remain in place, but an eligible farm may receive additional base acres through this allocation process. Newly allocated base acres are different from the acreage planted in the current crop year.

Farm operators may have the detailed planting and prevented-planting records needed to check the USDA summary. Landowners and operators should compare those records with the acreage history shown by FSA.

What landowners need to do by Aug. 31

Landowners can review their Base Allocation Summary online through FSA using a Login.gov account. Those who do not have an account can obtain the summary through their local FSA county office.

After reviewing the document, landowners should contact FSA promptly if acreage history is missing or incorrect. They may also need to contact the county office if “subsequent acres” appear in the summary and a commodity designation is required, or if they want to opt out of receiving additional base acres.

If the information is disputed, USDA says a landowner may appeal the accuracy of the summary to the FSA County Committee by filing a written request. If FSA is not notified of a problem by the deadline, the summary will be treated as accurate and complete for the allocation process.

Why additional base acres could matter

ARC and PLC are federal farm safety-net programs. ARC can provide support when a farm’s actual revenue falls below a guarantee based on historical data and market conditions. PLC can provide support when the effective price for a covered commodity falls below its effective reference price.

Additional base acres could expand the acreage used in future safety-net calculations. But they do not guarantee a payment. Future assistance will depend on factors including commodity prices, revenue triggers, payment yields, program elections and other USDA rules.

The review also is not ARC/PLC enrollment. USDA says it will announce the 2026 election and enrollment period later. Landowners should not wait for that announcement before checking the base-acre summary.

What happens if requests exceed the cap

USDA has set a nationwide ceiling of 30 million newly allocated base acres. If approved requests exceed that limit, the agency says it will apply an across-the-board prorated reduction to approved new base acres.

The deadline comes as USDA’s Economic Research Service forecasts $44.3 billion in direct government farm payments for 2026. That total includes several types of assistance. ERS forecasts $15.2 billion in Farm Bill payments tied to commodity prices, but the figures are estimates rather than final payment totals and do not mean every farm will qualify.

For landowners, the immediate step is narrower: locate the Base Allocation Summary, verify the 2019-2023 acreage record, and contact the local FSA office before Aug. 31 if a correction, designation, opt-out or appeal is needed.

Sources

Look for updates to this story

Discover more from Interactive News

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.