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Delayed farm program details leave farmers guessing on ARC, PLC

An economist says the slow release of farm program details and lack of a new farm bill have producers wondering what ARC and PLC will eventually look like.

Paul Mitchell with the University of Wisconsin tells Brownfield the One Big Beautiful Bill reconciliation act gave farmers the highest possible benefit for last year’s crop, regardless if they signed up for ARC or PLC. “We’ll have to wait and see, but it looks like the ARC payments will be larger than the PLC payments, and so we should see, and that’s what most of the interest is on, what the ARC payments are going to be, because that’s what the expectation is for corn and beans.”

Mitchell says the payments for the 2025 crop year will come later this summer, and county yield estimates crucial for calculating ARC payments are in, but he says 2026 sign-up details remain a mystery and probably will all summer.

Mitchell says it will be unusual for most farmers as they make decisions this fall. “The 2025 payments, they’ll be using that to cash flow down payments on the 2027 inputs while they’re sitting in the cab harvesting the 2026 crop. That’s how this works right now in agriculture.”

Mitchell says farmers are very concerned about cash flow, so the amount and timing of the 2025 ARC payments are top of mind to many producers.

AUDIO: Paul Mitchell with the University of Wisconsin-Madison discusses ARC and PLC with Brownfield’s Larry Lee.