The USDA Farm Service Agency issued the reminder July 27 as the deadline approached. The agency says more than $16 billion is available through the program, which is intended to address qualifying revenue, quality or production losses tied to disasters during the two calendar years.

The deadline applies nationwide. Eligibility and payment amounts are not automatic: They depend on documented losses and calculations by USDA.

Two stages cover different types of losses

Stage 1 is for producers with indemnified losses. USDA will use data from Federal Crop Insurance or the Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program to determine the relevant losses for that stage.

Stage 2 addresses non-indemnified, shallow, uninsured and quality losses. The separate stages are intended to account for different categories of losses and different types of documentation.

USDA’s announcement does not say that every applicant will receive a payment, nor does it say that the full amount available will be distributed by Aug. 12. The agency also did not provide a current nationwide total of applications or payments associated with the 2026 deadline.

Program deadline was extended

The Aug. 12 deadline follows an extension announced by USDA on April 24. At that time, the agency said the deadline applied to both Stage 1 and Stage 2 of the disaster program.

The April announcement also said USDA had already issued $6.7 billion in Supplemental Disaster Relief Program payments. It documented an increase in the program’s payment factor from 35% to 70%.

That earlier payment figure is a snapshot from the April announcement, not a current total for the program or a prediction of how much will ultimately be paid. The July reminder continued to describe more than $16 billion as available through the program.

Other agriculture deadlines are also approaching

The July 27 USDA announcement listed additional deadlines for producers and landowners. Applications for Assistance for Specialty Crop Farmers, or ASCF, are due Aug. 7, 2026.

The announcement also set Aug. 31, 2026, as the deadline to review base allocations under the Agriculture Risk Coverage and Price Loss Coverage programs, known as ARC/PLC.

USDA says eligible landowners may seek increases to as many as 30 million nationwide base acres through the ARC/PLC review. That figure describes the potential number of new base acres nationwide, not a guaranteed increase for any individual landowner.

What producers need to know

For producers with qualifying losses, the immediate issue is completing the appropriate application before Aug. 12. The program covers losses involving crops, trees, bushes or vines from calendar-year 2023 and 2024 disasters, but eligibility and the eventual payment amount depend on the loss information USDA uses in its calculations.

The next known date for the main disaster program is Aug. 12, when applications for both stages are due. The separate specialty-crop deadline comes earlier, on Aug. 7, while the ARC/PLC base-allocation review deadline follows on Aug. 31.

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.

The USDA Farm Service Agency announced the opportunity Aug. 6. The review period runs from June 1 through Aug. 31, 2026, and applies to farms participating in the Agriculture Risk Coverage and Price Loss Coverage programs.

For producers who qualify, the decision can affect future eligibility for the programs and the way payments are calculated. The deadline is the next practical action point for affected landowners and producers.

What the USDA notice says

The FSA notice directs eligible landowners to review their farms’ base-acre information and consider whether they may qualify to request an increase under USDA farm-program provisions governing base acres.

Base-acre changes are tied in this notice to farms enrolled in ARC and PLC. The announcement does not say that every farm or applicant will receive an increase. It describes an opportunity to review and consider a request, not a guaranteed payment increase.

That distinction matters because the notice does not establish that an increase will be approved in every case. It also does not provide a national total for the number of farms or acres that could be affected.

Why the deadline matters

ARC and PLC are among the USDA programs that can provide farm-support payments under specified program conditions. The FSA announcement says a base-acre decision can affect producers’ future program eligibility and payment calculations.

That makes Aug. 31 more than an informational date for participating producers. Eligible landowners who may be affected have a limited period—June 1 through Aug. 31, 2026—to review the opportunity and determine whether to pursue a base-acre increase.

The source notice is a nationwide USDA program announcement. Its scope covers farms enrolled in ARC and PLC across the United States, rather than a state-specific change in eligibility or payments.

What is known—and what is not

The announcement identifies eligible landowners and participating producers as the people who should review the opportunity. It does not state how many landowners, farms or acres may qualify, and it does not provide a national dollar estimate.

The notice also references USDA emergency-credit assistance for producers affected by natural disasters. That reference appears alongside the base-acre announcement, but the approved information does not provide additional terms, amounts or deadlines for that assistance.

A separate USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service calendar documents scheduled national agricultural data releases during August 2026. The calendar provides timing context for agricultural reporting and farm-policy coverage, but it does not add figures about the base-acre opportunity.

Next step for affected producers

The next known step is the Aug. 31, 2026, deadline. Eligible landowners and producers participating in ARC or PLC should use the review period to consider whether a base-acre increase request applies to their farms.

The USDA notice does not say that all requests will be approved or that an increase will produce a particular payment result. Until USDA provides additional figures or case-specific decisions, the number of affected farms, the acreage involved and any national financial impact remain unspecified.