Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) 

& Price Loss Coverage (PLC)

Overview

The Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 

(2018 Farm Bill) reauthorized the ARC 

and PLC programs with modifications for 

the 2019 through 2023 crop years. The 

Further Continuing Appropriations and 

Other Extensions Act of 2024 extend these 

programs through 2024. The ARC Program 

is an income support program that provides 

payments when actual crop revenue 

declines below a specified guarantee level. 

The PLC Program provides income support 

payments when the effective price for a 

covered commodity falls below its effective 

reference price. There are 22 covered 

commodities: wheat, oats, barley, corn, grain 

sorghum, long grain rice, medium/short grain 

rice, temperate japonica rice, seed cotton, 

dry peas, lentils, large and small chickpeas 

soybeans, peanuts, sunflower seed, canola, 

flaxseed, mustard seed, rapeseed, safflower, 

crambe, and sesame seed.

How It Works 

Published Reference Prices for all covered 

commodities are provided in the table. 

Under the 2018 Farm Bill amendments, 

effective reference prices will be calculated 

to allow upward fluctuation of reference 

prices in time periods when historic price 

averages are higher than the established 

reference price for the covered commodity.

Eligibility

Base acres on farms where all cropland 

acres have been planted entirely to grass 

or pasture; including cropland that was idle 

or fallow, from January 1, 2009 through 

December 31, 2017, will be maintained, but 

no ARC or PLC payments will be issued for 

those base acres from 2019 through 2024. 

Reconstitutions are not permitted to void or 

change this treatment of base acres.

Crop Reference Price National Loan Rate

Barley1 $4.95 per bu. $2.50 per bu

Chickpeas, Large

(Garbanzo bean, Kabuli) $21.54 per cwt $14.00 per cwt

Chickpeas, Small

(Garbanzo bean, Desi) $19.04 per cwt $10.00 per cwt

Corn $3.70 per bu $2.20 per bu

Dry Peas $11.00 per cwt $6.15 per cwt

Grain Sorghum $3.95 per bu $2.20 per bu

Lentils $19.97 per cwt $13.00 per cwt

Oats $2.40 per bu $2.00 per bu

Canola $20.15 per cwt. $10.09 per cwt

Crambe $20.15 per cwt $10.09 per cwt

Flaxseed $11.28 per bu $10.09 per bu

Mustard $20.15 per cwt $10.09 per cwt

Rapeseed $20.15 per cwt $10.09 per cwt

Safflower $20.15 per cwt $10.09 per cwt

Sesame Seed $20.15 per cwt $10.09 per cwt

Sunflower $20.15 per cwt $10.09 per cwt

Peanuts $535.00 per ton $355.00 per ton

Rice, Long Grain $14.00 per cwt $7.00 per cwt

Rice, Medium/Short Grain $14.00 per cwt $7.00 per cwt

Rice, Temperate Japonica $17.30 per cwt $7.00 per cwt

Soybeans $8.40 per bu $6.20 per bu

Wheat $5.50 per bu $3.38 per bu

Seed Cotton2 $0.367 per lb .45-.52 per lb

1Barley price is based on the price of “all barley.” Previously the price was based on the 

“feed barley” price.

2Seed cotton price is a weighted average of upland cotton and cottonseed prices. 

Marketing year for upland cotton is August 1 to July 31. Marketing year or cotton- seed is 

August 1 to February 28. 

For More Information

For more information on FSA programs, eligibility and related information, visit 

fsa.usda.gov. To locate your local FSA office, visit: farmers.gov/service-locator. 

This fact sheet is provided for informational purposes only; other restrictions or 

requirements may apply. Consult your local FSA office for details. 

DECEMBER 2023
ARC-PLC PROGRAM 2

Unassigned base acres resulting 

from the 2018 allocation of generic 

base acres are ineligible for payment. 

Payment acres under ARC-CO and 

PLC are equal to 85% of the specific 

covered commodity base acres. For 

ARC-IC, payment acres are 65% of the 

farm’s total covered commodity base 

acres. A producer is not eligible to 

receive ARCPLC payments if the sum 

of base acres on ALL farms in which the 

producer has an interest is 10 acres or 

less. This 10-acre rule will not apply to 

a socially disadvantaged, beginning, 

veteran, or limited resource farmer or 

rancher.

Yield Update

Owners will have a 1-time opportunity 

in 2020 to update PLC yields of 

covered commodity base crops on 

their farm, regardless of program 

election. The updated yield will 

be equal to 90% of the producer’s 

average yield per planted acre in crop 

years 2013-2017, subject to the ratio 

obtained by dividing the 2008-2012 

average national yield by the 2013- 

2017 average national yield for the 

covered commodity. If the reported 

yield in any year is less than 75% of the 

2013-2017 average county yield, then 

the yield will be substituted with 75% 

of the county average yield.

Election

All farm producers with interest in the 

cropland must make a unanimous election in 2019 of either ARC-CO or PLC 

on a crop-by-crop basis; or ARC-IC for 

all covered commodity base acres on 

a farm. This election will apply to the 

farm for 2019 through 2024. Program 

election changes are permitted in crop 

years 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024. 

Failure to make a valid election in 2019 

will result in a continuation of the program elected for 2014 through 2018 

crop years for all covered commodities 

with base acres on the farm; and 2019 

payments for those unelected covered 

commodities are prohibited.

Enrollment

To be eligible for payments, producers 

must annually enroll their respective 

share interest of covered commodity 

base acres. For 2019 and subsequent 

years, enrollment will occur on a 

covered commodity-by-covered 

commodity base acre crop basis. 

Enrolling less than 100% of a covered 

commodity’s base acres on a farm is 

not allowed. In 2019 producers had 

the option of selecting a multi-year 

enrollment which remains in effect 

through the 2024 program year, 

provided there are no changes to the 

election or shares on the contract. 

Program election and enrollment for 

each program year are as follows:

Program 

Year

Election 

Period

Enrollment 

Period

2019 September 3, 

2019 – March 

16, 2020

September 3, 

2019 – March 

16, 2020

2020 N/A October 15, 

2019 – June 30, 

2020

2021 October 13, 

2020 – March 

15, 2021

October 13, 

2020 – March 

15, 2021

2022 October 18, 

2021 – March 

15, 2022

October 18, 

2021 - March 

15, 2022

2023 October 17, 

2022 – March 

15, 2023

October 17, 

2022 – March 

15, 2023

2024 December 18, 

2023 – March 

15, 2024

December 18, 

2023 – March 

15, 2024

RMA’s SCO and STAX

Election and enrollment can impact 

eligibility for some forms of crop 

insurance. Producers who elect and 

enroll in PLC also have the option of 

purchasing Supplemental Coverage 

Option (SCO) which has been referred 

to as “shallow loss coverage” through the 

USDA Risk Management Agency (RMA). 

Producers of covered commodities 

who elect ARC are ineligible for SCO on 

their planted acres. Producers of upland 

cotton who choose to enroll seed cotton 

base acres in ARC or PLC are ineligible 

for the stacked income protection plan 

(STAX) on their planted cotton acres. To 

be eligible for STAX coverage, producers 

must not enroll their seed cotton 

base acres into the ARCPLC program. 

Because enrollment is now completed 

on a commodity-by-commodity basis, 

producers can choose to enroll all base 

acres, with the exception of cotton, if 

they wish to purchase STAX coverage. 

Those producers who do enroll in 

ARCPLC for seed cotton will have their 

STAX eligibility determined based on 

that enrollment.

Payment Schedule

Payments for PLC, ARC-CO and ARCIC, if triggered, will be issued after 

October 1 of the year following the 

program year.

Program Year Payments Issued After

2019 October 1, 2020

2020 October 1, 2021

2021 October 1, 2022

2022 October 1, 2023

2023 October 1, 2024

2024 October 1, 2025

USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer, and lender. fsa.usda.gov
ARC-PLC PROGRAM 3

Price Loss Coverage 

(PLC)

PLC program payments are issued 

when the effective price of a covered 

commodity is less than the respective 

effective reference price for that 

commodity. The effective price equals 

the higher of the national market year 

average price (MYA) or the national 

average loan rate for the covered 

commodity. The effective reference 

price is the lesser of 115% of the 

reference price or an amount equal to 

the greater of the reference price or 

85% of the average of MYA prices from 

the 5 preceding years, excluding the 

highest and lowest price.

This new method of calculating the PLC 

payment rates will allow the effective 

reference price to be greater than the 

statutory reference price if the historic 

average of MYA prices is greater than 

the statutory reference price.

PLC payments are not dependent upon 

the planting of a covered commodity or 

planting of the applicable base crop on 

the farm. PLC payments, if triggered, 

will be paid on 85% of the farm’s base 

acres of each covered commodity with 

a PLC election where the farm has 

been enrolled. Payment will be issued 

after the end of the marketing year of 

the covered commodity, but not before 

October 1 of the year following the 

program year.

County Agriculture Risk 

Coverage (ARC-CO)

ARC-CO program payments are 

triggered when the actual county crop 

revenue of a covered commodity is less 

than the ARC-CO guarantee for the 

crop. The actual county revenue and 

the revenue guarantee are based on 

county level yield data for the physical 

location of the base acres on the farm 

and tract.

ARC-CO payments are not dependent 

upon the planting of a covered 

commodity or planting of the 

applicable base crop on the farm.

The ARC-CO benchmark revenue 

is the 5-year Olympic average MYA 

price multiplied by the 5-year Olympic 

average county yield. Benchmark 

yields and MYA’s will be calculated 

using the 5 years preceding the year 

prior to the program year. The ARC-CO 

guarantee is determined by multiplying 

the ARC-CO benchmark revenue by 

86%.

The ARC-CO actual crop revenue 

is determined by multiplying the 

applicable actual county yield by the 

MYA price for the program year.

County yields for the benchmark 

and actual revenues will be based on 

the physical location and historical 

irrigated percentage of base acres 

on the farm and tract. If a farm has 

base acres physically located in more 

than one county or has a historical 

irrigated percentage for the covered 

commodity, the benchmark and actual 

crop revenues will be weighted and 

summarized based on those aspects to 

the farm level.

The ARC-CO payment is equal 

to 85% of the base acres of the 

covered commodity multiplied by 

the difference between the county 

guarantee and the actual county crop 

revenue for the covered commodity.

Payment rates may not exceed 10% of 

the ARC-CO benchmark revenue.

Individual Agriculture 

Risk Coverage (ARC-IC)

ARC-IC program payments are issued 

when the actual individual crop 

revenue for all covered commodities 

planted on the ARC-IC farm is less 

than the ARC-IC guarantee for those 

covered commodities. ARC-IC uses 

producer’s certified yields, rather than 

county level yields. ARC-IC payments 

are dependent upon the planting of 

covered commodities on the farm. A 

producer’s ARC-IC farm is defined as 

the sum of the producer’s interest in all 

ARC-IC enrolled farms in the state.

The farm’s ARC-IC guarantee equals 

86% of the ARC-IC farm’s weighted 

benchmark revenue. The ARC-IC 

benchmark revenue is the 5-year 

Olympic average revenue, which 

is the MYA price multiplied by the 

individual’s certified yield for each 

year in the benchmark period. A 

benchmark revenue is calculated for 

each planted covered commodity 

on the ARC-IC farm in the current 

year, weighed and summed across all 

covered commodities on the farm. 

The yields and MYA prices used in the 

benchmark calculation will be the 5 

years preceding the year prior to the 

program year.

The ARC-IC actual crop revenue is 

determined by multiplying the MYA 

price by the individual’s certified 

yield, weighted and summed across all 

covered commodities planted on the 

farm in the current year.

The ARC-IC payment is equal to 65% 

of the total base acres on the farm, 

multiplied by the difference between 

the calculated individual guarantee 

revenue and the actual individual crop 

revenue summed across all covered 

commodities planted on the farm.

ARC-IC payment rates may not exceed 

10% of the individual weighted 

benchmark revenue.

USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer, and lender. fsa.usda.gov