From the guide · The ARC/PLC Enrollment Checklist
ARC vs. PLC in 2026: Which Program Fits Your Farm?
ARC-CO, PLC or ARC-IC — three choices, one joint decision per farm. The plain-language difference, the 2026 reference prices, and how your lease type shapes who decides.
Every farm with a share in the crop makes one joint choice: ARC-CO or PLC, crop by crop — or ARC-IC for the whole farm. Picking ARC or PLC is a price-and-yield decision, and land-grant universities offer free decision tools for it. But before you run the numbers, it helps to know what each program actually does.
The three choices in plain language
PLC — Price Loss Coverage — pays when the national market-year average price falls below the effective reference price. For 2026: corn $4.10, soybeans $10.00, wheat $6.35 per bushel. ARC-CO — county coverage — pays when actual county revenue for the crop falls below 90% of the county benchmark, capped at 12% of benchmark revenue. ARC-IC covers your farm’s own revenue across covered crops, chosen for the whole farm instead of crop by crop. PLC and ARC-CO pay on 85% of base acres; ARC-IC pays on 65%.
One thing that doesn’t carry over: for the 2025 crop only, farms automatically got the higher of ARC or PLC. That safety net ends with 2025 — for 2026, you choose, and you sign by December 11.
Your lease shapes the choice
All producers with a share on the farm make the choice together — and your lease type decides who counts as a producer. On a cash lease, the tenant decides alone. On a crop-share lease, owner and tenant choose together. A flex lease counts as cash, so the landowner isn’t in the decision. Note the calendar too: old multi-year contracts ended with 2025, so nobody is enrolled for 2026 until they sign again — though you can now sign one contract covering 2026 through 2031.
Key takeaways
- PLC guards price; ARC-CO guards county revenue; ARC-IC guards whole-farm revenue.
- 2026 reference prices: corn $4.10, soybeans $10.00, wheat $6.35.
- Your lease type decides who counts as a producer — and who chooses.
- The 2025 auto-higher safety net is gone; sign for 2026 by Dec 11.
Want the full guide?
This article is a short read drawn from The ARC/PLC Enrollment Checklist — 7 lease details to have ready before the Dec 11 sign-up deadline, plus a farm-by-farm worksheet and an eight-week game plan.
Read the full free guide →Source: adapted from The ARC/PLC Enrollment Checklist (Oaken, free ebook). Educational only — not legal, tax or financial advice.
More from this guide
AD-1026: The Conservation Form You Need Before ARC/PLC Pays
AD-1026 certifies your conservation compliance for ARC/PLC. What it covers, when to update it, and the tiling mistake to avoid.
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FSA Form 578: Why Your Acreage Report Sets Your ARC/PLC Payment Shares
Your acreage report sets your ARC/PLC payment shares. How FSA Form 578 works and what to fix before sign-up.
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Base Acres, Explained: How They Set Your ARC/PLC Payment
ARC/PLC pay on base acres, not planted acres. What changed for 2026 and how to check your farm’s base.
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FSA Farm Numbers and Tract Numbers: Match Your Lease to the Right Farm
FSA enrolls by farm number — your lease doesn’t. How to match leases to farm and tract numbers.
Read article →Free guide
Get the full guide, free.
Get The ARC/PLC Enrollment Checklist, the complete guide behind this article:
- The full free guide this article came from
- The 7 lease details FSA asks about, one by one
- Farm-by-farm worksheet and eight-week game plan
Questions, answered.
Where does “ARC vs. PLC in 2026: Which Program Fits Your Farm?” come from?
This article is a short, plain-language read drawn from The ARC/PLC Enrollment Checklist, a free guide from Oaken. The full guide goes deeper, with the seven lease details, a farm-by-farm worksheet and an eight-week game plan. It is linked on this page.
Is this article legal or tax advice?
No. This article is educational and explains the records and forms FSA asks for. Program rules can change, and your county FSA office makes the final call on your farm.
What should I read next?
Start with the other articles from The ARC/PLC Enrollment Checklist — each one covers one piece of sign-up, from conservation forms to base acres to farm numbers. Then bring the checklist to your FSA appointment.
See every lease, payment and landowner in one place.
Book a 15-minute conversation and bring a sample lease or your lease list — we’ll show you how the seven details on this checklist line up for your farms.