FSA

Enrollment Period Open for Commodity Support Programs

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Enrollment season for the Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC) commodity support programs is underway.

Producers can make elections and enroll for the 2026 crop year now through Dec. 11. Elections and enrollment for 2027 can occur from Nov. 2, 2026, through March 15, 2027.

Farmers can make program elections and enroll online at fsa.usda.gov/arc-plc using a Login.gov account or in person through their local FSA office.

Producers who don’t submit elections and enroll for 2026 by Dec. 11 will be ineligible for 2026 program year payments. Landowners can’t enroll in the programs unless they have a share interest in the farm.

Commodities eligible for the programs include corn, soybeans, peanuts, seed cotton, and more.

Enrolling in ARC and PLC may affect commodities’ eligibility for crop insurance programs. For example, upland cotton farmers who enroll seed cotton acres in ARC or PLC can’t use the Stacked Income Protection Plan crop insurance program for those acres.

However, producers can now add Supplemental Coverage Option or Enhanced Coverage Option protections for their crops, regardless of their ARC or PLC status. Republicans’ July 2025 One Big Beautiful Bill law removed the prohibition on producers purchasing SCO coverage for ARC acres.

The reconciliation law also resulted in USDA adding more than 30 million more base acres to ARC and PLC. Landowners can view their base allocation notifications online or in person at their county FSA office.

Source and more information: USDA Announces 2026 and 2027 Enrollment for Key Price and Revenue Safety Net Programs, Completes First Base Acre Increase in Two Decades | Farm Service Agency

USDA Expediting $10 Billion in Direct Economic Assistance to Farmers

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The USDA has opened the application period for up to $10 billion in direct economic assistance to farmers through the Emergency Commodity Assistance Program (ECAP) for the 2024 crop year. Administered by USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA), ECAP will help farmers mitigate the impacts of increased input costs and falling commodity prices.

Authorized by the American Relief Act, 2025, these economic relief payments are based on planted and prevented planted crop acres for eligible commodities for the 2024 crop year, and many commodities widely planted in Virginia are eligible. The program also includes payments for eligible double-crop rotations, which will benefit Virginia farmers.

To streamline and simplify the delivery of ECAP, FSA will begin sending pre-filled applications to producers who submitted acreage reports to FSA for 2024 eligible ECAP commodities. Producers do not have to wait for their pre-filled ECAP application to apply. They can visit fsa.usda.gov/ecap to apply using a login.gov account or contact their local FSA office to request an application once the signup period opens.

More Resources

More Information on ECAP
ECAP Calculator
ECAP Fact Sheet
ECAP FAQs

Upcoming Webinar to educate about County Committees

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USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) will be hosting a webinar on Thursday, July 29th at 3:00 p.m. titled “FSA County Committees and You.”

FSA county committees are a critical component of the day-to-day operations of FSA. The county committees encourage grassroots input and local administration of federal farm programs. Farmers and ranchers who are elected to serve on FSA county committees use their judgment and knowledge to help with the decisions necessary to administer FSA programs in their counties. These members are elected from their local farmers, ranchers and landowners who also make decisions regarding hiring county office employees in FSA county offices.

When: Thursday, July 29th, 2021 at 3:00 p.m. (EST)

Registration Link: https://globalmeetwebinar.webcasts.com/starthere.jsp?ei=1483938&tp_key=efbd88000f

Nomination period for FSA County Committees closes nationwide on August 2nd.