Tools

ARC-CO vs. PLC Analyzer

Elections and enrollment for the 2026 crop year are open through December 11. This shows what each election pays per base acre on your county and crop, and where the two cross over.

Pick a county, crop and practice and it loads FSA's published benchmark yield, benchmark price, guarantee and 12% cap. Set a marketing-year price and a final county yield — the price starts at USDA's own forecast — and both programs settle side by side, with every step of the arithmetic on the page.

Your farm

From your FSA farm record. Pre-filled with an estimate — replace it with the real number.

Price & yield scenario

Both elections are settled by these two numbers.

ARC-CO County revenue

$0
per base acre (after the 85% factor)
On 160 base acres$0

PLC National price

$0
per base acre (after the 85% factor)
On 160 base acres$0

At this scenario

How the numbers are built

FSA formulas, step by step

ARC-CO worksheet

Step 1 — Benchmark revenue (2020–24 Olympic averages)
Step 2 — Revenue guarantee (90% of benchmark)
Step 3 — Actual county revenue
Step 4 — Payment rate, capped at 12% of benchmark revenue
Step 5 — Payment per base acre

PLC worksheet

Step 1 — Effective reference price (2026)
Step 2 — Payment rate: reference price less the higher of MYA price or loan rate
Step 3 — Payment per base acre

Payment grid

Method & sources

  • County benchmark yields, benchmark prices, guarantees and 12% caps: USDA FSA ARC-CO Trend Adjusted Yields, Benchmark Yields and Guarantee Revenues for Program Year 2026 (file dated 2026-01-16).
  • Trend-adjustment factors: USDA FSA Trend-Adjusted Yield Factors for Program Year 2026. FSA adds the factor once for each year between the yield year and 2026, so the actual county yield shown in the yield-history card is the trend-adjusted figure less that adjustment. Where a county and crop have no factor, no adjustment was applied and the two series are identical. The 2026 final county yield that settles ARC-CO is not trend-adjusted.
  • ARC-CO guarantee is 90% of benchmark revenue and the payment rate is capped at 12% of benchmark revenue, per the Working Families Tax Cuts Act. Payments are made on 85% of base acres.
  • PLC effective reference prices are the greater of the statutory reference price or 88% of the 5-year Olympic-average MYA price, capped at 115% of statutory. Payment rate is the effective reference price less the higher of the MYA price or the national loan rate, paid on 85% of base acres times the farm's PLC yield.
  • Default MYA prices are USDA's 2026/27 season-average forecasts from the September 11, 2026 WASDE. Loan rates are the 2026 national rates announced April 8, 2026.
  • SCO and ECO can now be purchased alongside either election. Seed cotton base enrolled in ARC or PLC makes planted cotton on that farm ineligible for STAX.

This tool is an estimate for planning conversations. Actual payments depend on final NASS county yields and the final national MYA price, published after the marketing year ends. Confirm base acres, PLC yields and shares with your FSA county office.

Before you sign the contract

An election is a crop-by-crop decision on each farm, and the base acres and PLC yields that drive it come off your FSA records rather than anything we can look up. Bring us your 156EZ and we will run it against your actual numbers — and it is worth doing before December 11, because a farm with no election on file stays on its 2025 choice and draws no 2026 payment.

Send us your base acres Open the indemnity estimator