ARC-Individual: Why Nebraska Producers Should Take a Closer Look in 2026

Highlights

• 2026 ARC/PLC enrollment runs through Dec. 11, and many producers already know their harvested yields.
• ARC-IC uses individual farm yields but pays on 65% of base acres, compared with 85% under ARC-CO.
• ARC-IC may pay when hail, prevented planting or low yields hit one farm while the county did fine.
• ARC-IC combines every enrolled farm in a state, so strong yields on one farm can offset losses on another.
• Producers can compare ARC-IC, ARC-CO and PLC payments using actual yields before making their election.

Farmers typically make their Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC) decisions before knowing how the growing season will unfold. However, the 2026 enrollment period presents a unique opportunity. With enrollment open through December 11, 2026, many Nebraska producers already know their harvested yields, which farms experienced significant losses, and how their production compares to the rest of the county.

That information could make Agriculture Risk Coverage–Individual (ARC-IC) worth a closer look, particularly for producers who experienced prevented planting, hail damage, or below-average yields while neighboring farms had a successful growing season. 

Understanding the Difference Between ARC-CO and ARC-IC

Agricultural Risk Coverage-County (ARC-CO) uses county yields and national marketing year average prices to determine payments, while ARC-IC uses individual farm yields and national prices. ARC-CO pays on 85% of the applicable commodity base acres, compared to 65% under ARC-IC.

That difference often leads producers to favor ARC-CO. But 85% of base acres doesn't mean much if ARC-CO doesn't trigger a payment. For producers who experienced significant yield losses while the rest of the county had a good year, ARC-IC may provide a payment when ARC-CO does not.

One important consideration is that ARC-IC combines the producer's interest across all farms enrolled in the program in a state. Strong yields on one enrolled farm can offset losses on another. Producers with multiple FSA farm numbers need to evaluate the combined revenue, not just the farm with the greatest loss.

Prevented Planting: What Happens When Nothing Gets Planted?

Consider a Nebraska producer in the panhandle who prevent planted due to drought or lack of irrigation water. Under ARC-CO, payments depend on county revenue. Even if that producer experienced a complete production loss, the county will have that crop grown somewhere to produce a yield that will create a county revenue where ARC-CO payment may or may not be triggered.

ARC-IC has a special provision for farms with 100% prevented planting. When no acres are planted on an entire FSA farm number, the farm will qualify for an ARC-IC revenue calculation using the prevented planting provisions.

For example, consider a Morrill County farm number with 100 cropland acres and 37 base acres that experienced 100% prevented planting in 2026. This crop rotation is corn followed by dry edible beans or sugar beets. Corn is the only commodity covered under the farm bill, so FSA-assigned ARC-CO county yields are used when sugar beets or dry edible beans are planted in 2021 and 2024. Farm yields are used for the remaining years (2020, 2022, and 2023). The benchmark revenue for the farm is the Olympic average of the annual revenues, meaning the high and low years are thrown out and the remaining years are averaged.

In this example, the payment rate, applied to 65% of the farm's 37 base acres, results in an estimated ARC-IC payment of $2,620.

If some of your farm numbers had prevented planting acres and others did not, choose which ones to enroll in ARC-IC deliberately. Enrolling two or more farm numbers in the same state combines them into a single payment calculation.  When running the calculations yourself, make sure the yield is a weighted average by the number of acres planted.

For example, adding another farm number to this example, with the same cropland and base acres but with a 2026 corn yield of 156 bu/ac and predicted MYA of $4.70/bu, still results in the maximum payment rate, but with double the base acres, resulting in an approximate payment of $5,241. 

But what if most of the county also experienced prevented planting? Wouldn't ARC-CO be better because it pays on 85% of base acres?

Not necessarily.

ARC-CO payments depend on the county's calculated revenue, not the percentage of county acres that experienced prevented planting. Even when prevented planting is widespread, the acres that were successfully planted can influence the county yield used in the program calculation. A producer with 100% prevented planting could therefore experience a complete individual production loss without receiving an ARC-CO payment.

If we use the  Morrill County example above with a county average of 156 bu/ac and a predicted MYA of $4.70, an ARC-CO payment would be triggered with an expected payment rate of approximately $55 per corn base acre * 85%. 

The important question is not simply how many acres went unplanted across the county. It is whether the county revenue loss is large enough to trigger ARC-CO compared with the potential payment under ARC-IC.

When Your Farm Suffers but the County Does Not

Hailstorms, wind damage, localized drought, excessive rainfall, and other production challenges can cause one farm to experience significant yield losses while neighboring farms produce average or above-average yields. Because ARC-CO relies on county-level yields, an individual producer may experience a substantial production loss without triggering an ARC-CO payment.

Consider a farm in Gage County with 100 acres in a corn and soybean rotation and 76 base acres. Suppose hail reduced production by half to 80 bushels of corn and 25 bushels of soybeans per acre. Assuming county average yields between 2020-2024 and a predicted marketing year average price of $4.70 for corn and $12.00 for soybeans.  The resulting revenue loss results in about $79.23 per acre. Applying that rate to 65% of the farm's 76 base acres produces an estimated ARC-IC payment of approximately $3,914.

Now consider what happens if the rest of Gage County experienced favorable growing conditions and produced average or above-average yields. ARC-CO may not trigger a payment because county revenue did not decline enough, even though the individual producer experienced a substantial loss.

ARC-IC considers the producer's interest across all farms enrolled in ARC-IC in a state. Strong production on one enrolled farm can offset losses on another, just as strong yields from one commodity may offset losses from another. For producers with multiple FSA farm numbers, evaluating how those farms interact is important before assuming a significant loss will generate an ARC-IC payment.

The key consideration is whether an individual farm's revenue loss is substantially greater than the county's overall revenue loss. 

Why the Late 2026 Signup Matters

This year's late enrollment gives producers information they normally wouldn't have when making their ARC/PLC election. Many already know their harvested yields, which farms experienced prevented planting, and where hail or other weather events reduced production.

Although final national marketing year average prices won't be available until later, producers can use their actual production numbers to compare potential ARC-IC, ARC-CO, and PLC payments. The decision still depends on historical yields, revenue guarantees, base acres, and the combination of farms enrolled in ARC-IC.

Is ARC-IC Worth Considering for Your Operation?

Before making the 2026 ARC/PLC election, producers should ask themselves:

• Did I experience 100% prevented planting on an FSA farm number?
• Did hail or another localized event significantly reduce my production?
• Were my yields substantially below my historical production while county yields remained relatively strong?
• Do I have multiple farm numbers, and could stronger production on one offset losses on another?
• How does my potential ARC-IC payment compare with ARC-CO and PLC?

ARC-IC requires more production records and calculations than ARC-CO or PLC, particularly for producers with multiple FSA farm numbers. However, for those who experienced prevented planting, significant hail damage, or poor yields compared to the rest of the county, the additional work may be worthwhile.

Don't rule out ARC-IC simply because it pays on 65% of base acres instead of 85%. With much of the 2026 production information already available, producers have an opportunity to compare the programs using actual yields rather than relying entirely on projections.

The deadline to complete the 2026 ARC/PLC enrollment is December 11, 2026. Producers should review their production records, run the numbers, and contact their local Farm Service Agency office before making their election.

**For educational purposes only. The best farm program decision is not necessarily the one with the largest payment-acre percentage. It is the one that provides the most appropriate protection for the losses and risks experienced by the operation.**

Helpful Links: 

• FSA ARC and PLC program data
• USDA ARC and PLC 2026 fact sheet (PDF)
• Kansas State AgManager: Tradeoff Between 2026/2027 ARC and PLC
• Texas A&M AFPC tools and decision aids
• farmdoc Farm Bill What-If Tool (University of Illinois)
• NDSU 2026 ARC-IC payment calculator

Meyer, A. “ARC-Individual: Why Nebraska Producers Should Take a Closer Look in 2026.” CAP Series 26-1002, Center for Agricultural Profitability, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Oct. 28, 2026. DOI: 10.32873/unl.dc.cap091.

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