Legislative and Policy Analysis

Section 10312: Sugar program updates

Executive Summary

Section 10312 updates the federal sugar program for the 2025 through 2031 crop years. It raises the raw cane sugar loan rate to 24.00 cents per pound and sets the refined beet sugar loan rate at 136.55 percent of the raw cane rate, which equals about 32.77 cents per pound before regional adjustments.[1] USDA later confirmed that the 2025-crop national average rates are 24.00 cents per pound for raw cane sugar and 32.77 cents per pound for refined beet sugar.[2]

The section also increases minimum Commodity Credit Corporation storage rates for forfeited sugar, extends sugar allotment authorities through 2031, changes the timing and priority rules for beet sugar allotment adjustments and reassignments, requires earlier reallocation of unused raw sugar tariff-rate quota shortfalls, directs USDA to study refined sugar import terms, and narrows USDA’s tariff-rate quota adjustment authority to direct responses to emergency shortages.[1]

The practical effect is to strengthen price support for domestic sugar processors and growers, tighten administration of import access, and give USDA more prescriptive timing rules for allotments and quota shortfalls. Consumers and sugar-using businesses may face higher or more persistent sugar-input costs if these changes keep domestic sugar prices above world prices. Domestic sugar producers and processors receive more predictable support.

What Section 10312 Actually Does

Section 10312 does not make a direct appropriation, grant, or transfer of a stated dollar amount. Instead, it changes federal commodity-support rules that affect the value and risk exposure of Commodity Credit Corporation sugar loans, potential forfeitures, storage costs, import access, and market administration.[1]

The biggest numerical change is the loan-rate increase. Prior USDA Economic Research Service materials described the prior FY 2020 through FY 2024 loan rates as 19.75 cents per pound for raw cane sugar and 25.38 cents per pound for refined beet sugar.[3] Section 10312 raises those national average support levels to 24.00 cents and about 32.77 cents, respectively.[1][2]

The section makes six major policy changes:

1. Raises sugar loan rates. The raw cane sugar loan rate becomes 24.00 cents per pound for crop years 2025 through 2031. The refined beet sugar rate becomes 136.55 percent of that raw cane rate.[1]

2. Raises CCC storage-rate floors for forfeited sugar. For crop year 2025 and later, CCC must set forfeited-sugar storage rates at not less than 34 cents per hundredweight per month for refined sugar and 27 cents per hundredweight per month for raw cane sugar.[1]

3. Extends sugar program authorities through 2031. The flexible marketing allotment provisions and related sugar authorities are extended by replacing 2023 sunset language with 2031 language.[1]

4. Changes beet sugar allotment administration. When USDA makes an upward adjustment in beet sugar allocations, it must prioritize beet sugar processors with available sugar. USDA must also make an initial reassignment determination based on the January World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates and provide an initial reassignment within 30 days after that WASDE release.[1]

5. Requires earlier tariff-rate quota shortfall reallocations. USDA must identify countries that do not intend to fill their raw cane sugar tariff-rate quota allocations and reallocate forecasted shortfalls as soon as practicable. USDA must also reallocate additional forecasted raw cane sugar shortfalls by March 1 of the quota year, subject to the Mexico sugar suspension-agreement condition in the statute.[1]

6. Creates a refined sugar import review process. USDA must study whether additional terms and conditions are needed for refined sugar imports, consult both domestic sugar industry representatives and sugar users, report to the House and Senate agriculture committees within 1 year, and may issue regulations if the terms are necessary, appropriate, not adverse to the domestic sugar industry, and consistent with U.S. law and approved trade-agreement obligations.[1]

Legislative Mechanism

Section 10312 amends three existing statutory frameworks:

• Section 156 of the Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996, which governs sugar loan rates.
• Section 167 of the Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996, which governs storage rates for forfeited sugar.
• Part VII of subtitle B of title III of the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938, which governs sugar allotments, reallocations, tariff-rate quota adjustment, and the period of effectiveness for the sugar program.[1]

The section uses statutory amendments rather than a new stand-alone program. It changes numerical loan and storage rates, extends expiration dates, adds timing requirements, adds priority rules, and adds a new refined sugar study and possible rulemaking pathway.

The underlying federal sugar program uses domestic marketing allotments, tariff-rate quotas, high out-of-quota tariffs, and nonrecourse loans to support U.S. sugar prices. USDA Economic Research Service describes the program as designed to restrict the amount of sugar available to the U.S. market and support U.S. prices, which are usually above comparable world prices.[3] USDA also states that the program is intended, to the maximum extent possible, to operate at no cost to the federal government by avoiding loan forfeitures to CCC.[3]

Expenditure Tracking and Reporting Protocol

Section 10312 involves federal financial flows because it changes Commodity Credit Corporation loan rates, potential loan collateral values, forfeiture exposure, storage costs for forfeited sugar, and possible feedstock-flexibility or sugar-disposition actions. It does not create a single new public spending account labeled “Section 10312,” so public tracking is likely to be partial, delayed, and aggregated.

Likely tracking sources include:

USDA has already implemented the new loan-rate framework in its fiscal year 2026 sugar loan announcement, identifying national average rates of 24.00 cents per pound for raw cane sugar and 32.77 cents per pound for refined beet sugar, with regional adjustments.[2] USDA also explains that sugar loans may mature in up to nine months and that processors may repay the loan or forfeit pledged sugar collateral to USDA at maturity.[2]

Because forfeiture risk depends on market prices, import levels, allotment administration, and processor decisions, the budgetary impact is not as simple as a fixed appropriation. The fiscal exposure appears when loans are made, repaid, forfeited, stored, sold, or otherwise disposed of through CCC.

flowchart TD
    A[Section 10312] --> B[USDA FSA and CCC]
    B --> C[Sugar loan rates]
    B --> D[Storage rate floors]
    B --> E[Allotment decisions]
    B --> F[Quota shortfall reallocations]
    C --> G[Processor loans]
    G --> H[Repayment or forfeiture]
    H --> I[CCC accounts]
    D --> I
    E --> J[WASDE based review]
    F --> K[Import access]
    I --> L[Treasury reporting]
    I --> M[OMB and USDA budget execution]
    I --> N[USDA financial reports]
    K --> O[USDA and USTR notices]
    L --> P[Public visibility aggregated]
    M --> P
    N --> P
    O --> Q[Public visibility clearer]
    P --> R[GAO IG Congress]
    Q --> R

The most important limitation is that Section 10312 changes support rates and administrative rules, not a separately appropriated line item. Therefore, public data may show sugar loans, forfeitures, storage, or CCC costs without cleanly separating the incremental effect of Section 10312 from broader sugar-market conditions.

Day-to-Day Government Process Changes

For USDA and CCC, Section 10312 changes routine sugar program administration in several concrete ways.

USDA FSA and CCC must update sugar loan schedules, processor-facing materials, loan documents, state and county office guidance, minimum grower payment calculations, regional rate schedules, and forfeiture-management assumptions to reflect the new 2025 through 2031 rates.[1][2]

USDA must also incorporate higher statutory storage-rate floors into any situation where sugar is forfeited to CCC. That matters because nonrecourse loans allow processors to satisfy the debt by turning over pledged sugar collateral instead of repaying cash.[2][3]

For beet sugar allotments, the section makes USDA’s timing more prescriptive. USDA must use the January WASDE for the initial determination and provide an initial reassignment within 30 days after that WASDE release.[1] This creates a more predictable calendar for processors, growers, sugar users, and importers watching domestic supply availability.

For tariff-rate quotas, USDA must more actively identify quota countries that do not intend to fill allocations and reallocate expected shortfalls. A subsequent shortfall reallocation must occur by March 1 of the quota year.[1] This shifts quota administration toward earlier and more structured import-access decisions.

For refined sugar imports, USDA must conduct a study, consult both domestic sugar interests and sugar users, report to Congress, and potentially issue regulations. The study must examine issues such as refined sugar definition, polarization, color or reflectance standards, packaging, transportation, evidence that imported refined sugar will not undergo further refining in the United States, and terms to avoid unlawful imports.[1]

Effects on Consumers

Consumers do not interact directly with the sugar loan program, but they can be affected through food prices. Sugar is an input in candy, baked goods, beverages, dairy products, processed foods, and restaurant supply chains.

USDA ERS states that the sugar program supports U.S. sugar prices and that those prices are usually well above comparable world prices.[3] By raising the statutory support level and tightening import administration, Section 10312 may help keep domestic sugar prices higher than they would be under a more open or lower-support system.

The consumer impact is likely indirect and spread across many products. For a household, the effect may be hard to isolate in a grocery bill because sugar is often a small share of the final retail price of processed food. However, for high-sugar products, the effect can be more noticeable through manufacturer pricing, product size, or ingredient substitution.

Effects on Businesses

Section 10312 benefits domestic sugar beet growers, sugarcane growers, beet processors, cane mills, and cane refiners by increasing price-support certainty through 2031. Higher loan rates strengthen the floor under processors’ financing and can improve the negotiating environment for growers because processors receiving CCC loans must make required minimum payments to growers.[2][3]

The provision may also benefit sugar processors with available sugar because USDA must prioritize beet sugar processors with available sugar when making upward allocation adjustments.[1] That could reward processors able to supply the market quickly.

Sugar-using businesses face a different impact. Candy companies, bakeries, beverage manufacturers, food processors, restaurants, and retailers may see higher input-cost pressure if the program keeps domestic sugar prices above world prices. Businesses that rely heavily on refined sugar may also watch the refined sugar import study closely because future USDA regulations could affect import specifications, documentation, packaging, transport, and proof that imported refined sugar will not be further refined in the United States.[1]

Importers and trading firms face more structured quota-shortfall timing. Earlier shortfall reallocations may improve planning when quota countries cannot fill their allocations, but the narrowed emergency-adjustment language may reduce USDA discretion to expand tariff-rate quotas except for direct emergency-shortage responses.[1]

Environmental and Climate Impact

Section 10312 is not an environmental or climate program. It does not directly appropriate conservation funding, set emissions rules, change pesticide standards, regulate water use, or require climate reporting.

The environmental effects are therefore indirect. By strengthening sugar price supports through higher loan rates and extending the program through 2031, the section may help maintain domestic sugar beet and sugarcane production patterns. Sugarcane production can raise region-specific concerns involving water management, nutrient runoff, soil impacts, and habitat effects, while sugar beet production can raise issues involving crop rotation, fertilizer use, pesticide use, irrigation, and processing energy demand. The statute itself, however, does not impose new environmental safeguards or mitigation requirements.

The tariff-rate quota and refined sugar import provisions could also affect where sugar is produced and refined. If domestic production and refining are favored over imports, environmental impacts may shift toward domestic producing regions rather than foreign production regions. The net climate effect is difficult to determine without modeling transportation, production practices, refining energy, land use, and trade substitution.

Impact Summary

Section 10312 is a producer- and processor-oriented sugar policy update. Its most direct effect is to raise statutory sugar loan rates and extend core sugar program authorities through 2031. It also increases storage-rate floors for forfeited sugar, tightens beet sugar allotment timing, accelerates tariff-rate quota shortfall reallocation, and creates a refined sugar import study and possible rulemaking process.

The likely winners are domestic sugar beet and sugarcane growers, processors, mills, and refiners that benefit from higher support levels and more predictable program administration. The likely pressure points are sugar-using businesses and consumers, who may face higher costs if the updated program continues to support domestic sugar prices above world prices.

For federal tracking, the section is important but not easy to isolate. It does not provide a new line-item appropriation. Its fiscal effects would show up through CCC loan activity, repayments, forfeitures, storage, sugar disposition, USDA budget execution, Treasury reporting, and oversight materials, often in aggregated form rather than as a clean Section 10312 total.

Key References and Sourcing

[1] H.R. 1 engrossed amendment text, “Sec. 10312. Sugar program updates,” primary legislative text, https://rules.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/rules.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/file_8654.pdf.

[2] USDA Farm Service Agency, “USDA Announces Fiscal Year 2026 Sugar Loan Rates and No Actions Under Feedstock Flexibility Program,” implementation and loan-rate announcement, https://www.fsa.usda.gov/news-events/news/09-26-2025/usda-announces-fiscal-year-2026-sugar-loan-rates-no-actions-feedstock.

[3] USDA Economic Research Service, “Sugar and Sweeteners – Policy,” explanation of sugar program structure and prior loan rates, https://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/crops/sugar-and-sweeteners/policy.

[4] Congressional Budget Office, “Estimated Budgetary Effects of H.R. 1, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” budget-estimate context, https://www.cbo.gov/publication/61461.

[5] American Farm Bureau Federation, “One Big Beautiful Bill Act: Final Agricultural Provisions,” agricultural-policy summary, https://www.fb.org/market-intel/one-big-beautiful-bill-act-final-agricultural-provisions.

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Legislative and Policy Analysis

Section 10311: Economic adjustment assistance for textile mills

Executive Summary

Section 10311 increases the federal payment rate under the Economic Adjustment Assistance for Textile Mills program for eligible domestic users of upland cotton. The section changes the assistance rate from 3 cents per pound to 5 cents per pound beginning August 1, 2025.[1]

The change is narrow but financially meaningful for domestic textile mills. USDA announced that the rate increase is expected to provide an estimated additional $15 million per year to the domestic textile industry.[2] The assistance is not a general-purpose cash grant. Under the existing program structure, payments are tied to eligible upland cotton consumption and must be used for capital investments in the United States that support domestic cotton manufacturing.[3]

For consumers, the direct effect is likely limited. The section does not create a consumer rebate, retail price control, or direct household benefit. Its practical effect is more likely to occur through the business side of the cotton textile supply chain, where mills may have more federal support for equipment, facilities, modernization, and production capacity.

What Section 10311 Actually Does

Section 10311 amends Section 1207(c) of the Agricultural Act of 2014, codified at 7 U.S.C. 9037(c), by replacing the prior payment-rate paragraph for the Economic Adjustment Assistance for Textile Mills program.[1]

The new statutory payment-rate schedule is:

The section does not set a fixed annual appropriation amount in the statutory text. Instead, the fiscal impact depends on the number of eligible pounds of upland cotton consumed and reported by participating domestic textile mills. USDA stated that approximately 1.8 million bales of upland cotton are consumed domestically per year and reported for EAATM purposes, and that the increase is expected to provide an estimated additional $15 million per year to the domestic textile industry.[2]

Because the change is a rate increase from 3 cents to 5 cents per pound, the incremental statutory benefit is 2 cents per eligible pound beginning August 1, 2025.[1]

Legislative Mechanism

Section 10311 uses a direct amendment to an existing farm-bill commodity support statute. It does not create a new textile program, a new grant program, or a new procurement authority. Instead, it modifies the value of assistance under an existing Commodity Credit Corporation and USDA-administered payment structure for domestic textile mills using upland cotton.[1]

The legal mechanism is simple:

1. The Agricultural Act of 2014 already authorizes assistance for eligible domestic users of upland cotton.
2. Section 10311 replaces the prior payment-rate paragraph.
3. The old 3 cents per pound rate remains applicable for the period ending July 31, 2025.
4. A new 5 cents per pound rate applies beginning August 1, 2025.[1]

USDA implemented the rate change through the existing EAATM administrative framework. USDA stated that existing participants had been notified and had executed updated agreements consistent with the new statutory rate, with no additional action required from current participants.[2]

Expenditure Tracking and Reporting Protocol

Section 10311 involves federal financial flows because it increases the payment rate for an existing federal assistance program. The likely payment and tracking chain runs through USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service and the Commodity Credit Corporation, with participating mills submitting consumption and payment documentation under existing program rules.[3]

The relevant program is the Economic Adjustment Assistance for Textile Mills program. The relevant administering structure is USDA AMS, including the Warehouse and Commodity Management Division, with payments made under the Commodity Credit Corporation framework.[2]

Public tracking is likely to be partly visible but not perfectly isolated. USDA identifies the program and payment rate publicly, and USDA materials refer to reports and agreements used for program administration.[2] However, section-specific incremental spending may be difficult to isolate in broad federal spending datasets unless USDA or CCC reporting separates the post-August 1, 2025 rate increase from baseline EAATM payments.

Likely reporting and oversight sources include:

The section does not appear to establish a dedicated public dashboard, special report to Congress, or unique section-level reporting code for the increased payment rate. That means public users may be able to see the program but may have difficulty separating the specific fiscal effect of Section 10311 from the broader EAATM payment stream.

flowchart TD
    A[Statutory rate increase] --> B[USDA AMS updates EAATM rate]
    B --> C[Domestic users update agreements]
    C --> D[Monthly cotton consumption reports]
    D --> E[CCC issues payments]
    E --> F[Capital investments by mills]
    F --> G[Tracking and oversight]

    G --> H[USDA AMS program records]
    G --> I[CCC and USDA budget execution]
    G --> J[Treasury account reporting]
    G --> K[USAspending where visible]
    G --> L[USDA IG GAO Congress]

    H --> M[Public visibility partial]
    I --> M
    J --> M
    K --> M
    L --> M

Day-to-Day Government Process Changes

For USDA, the day-to-day change is administrative rather than structural. The agency must apply the new 5 cents per pound rate to eligible consumption beginning August 1, 2025, update participant agreements or related program documents, and ensure payment calculations reflect the new statutory rate.[2]

For existing participants, USDA indicated that no additional action was required after updated agreements were executed.[2] For new or continuing participants, the practical process remains centered on eligibility, domestic-use agreements, monthly consumption reporting, payment applications, recordkeeping, and compliance with capital-expenditure restrictions.[3]

The main operational changes are likely to include:

The section does not require USDA to create a new office, build a new application portal, or run a competitive grant cycle. It primarily changes payment arithmetic inside an existing program.

Effects on Consumers

The section does not directly reduce consumer textile prices or provide household assistance. Consumers do not apply for benefits, receive credits, or interact with USDA under this section.

Any consumer effect would be indirect. If mills use the increased assistance for equipment modernization, plant upgrades, or production expansion, the program could help preserve domestic textile capacity and supply-chain resilience. That could have longer-term benefits for availability of certain U.S.-made cotton goods. However, the section does not require mills to pass savings through to consumers, lower prices, maintain specific product lines, or meet consumer-affordability targets.

For most households, the effect will likely be invisible unless it contributes to preserving domestic textile jobs, stabilizing supply chains, or affecting the availability of U.S.-manufactured cotton products.

Effects on Businesses

The direct beneficiaries are eligible domestic textile mills that use upland cotton and participate in the EAATM program. USDA describes the payments as being offered to domestic textile mills using upland cotton to incentivize capital investments.[2]

For participating mills, the increase from 3 cents to 5 cents per pound may improve the economics of modernization projects. Qualifying capital investments can include acquiring, constructing, installing, modernizing, developing, converting, or expanding land, plants, buildings, equipment, facilities, or machinery in the United States.[2]

Business effects may include:

The program is not an unrestricted operating subsidy. Its capital-investment restriction matters because it steers the benefit toward plant, equipment, and facility improvements rather than ordinary payroll, dividends, general debt service, or unrelated business expenses.[3]

Environmental and Climate Impact

Section 10311 does not include explicit environmental conditions, climate-performance requirements, emissions standards, water-use requirements, or conservation mandates. The statutory change is limited to the payment rate for eligible upland cotton use.[1]

The environmental impact therefore depends on how mills use the capital investments. Some investments could be environmentally beneficial if mills upgrade to more efficient equipment, reduce waste, improve energy performance, or modernize facilities. Other investments could increase production capacity and associated energy, water, chemical, or waste impacts if not paired with environmental controls.

Because the section does not require environmental reporting or climate metrics, public tracking of environmental outcomes is likely weak. USDA’s program compliance framework can track eligibility, payment use, and records, but Section 10311 itself does not create a climate-accounting protocol.

Impact Summary

Section 10311 is a targeted increase in federal support for domestic textile mills that use upland cotton. It raises the EAATM payment rate from 3 cents to 5 cents per pound beginning August 1, 2025, and USDA estimates the change will provide an additional $15 million per year to the domestic textile industry.[1][2]

The most important policy effect is business-facing. The section strengthens a preexisting capital-investment support program for domestic cotton textile manufacturing. It may help mills modernize facilities, preserve domestic production capacity, and support demand for upland cotton. Its consumer effects are indirect, and its environmental effects are uncertain because the statute does not attach environmental performance requirements to the increased payment rate.

The tracking issue is important. The program itself is identifiable, but the incremental effect of Section 10311 may be difficult for the public to isolate unless USDA, CCC, or oversight bodies separately report the added cost of the rate increase.

Key References and Sourcing

[1] Public Law 119-21, “Sec. 10311. Economic adjustment assistance for textile mills,” https://www.govinfo.gov/link/plaw/119/public/21.

[2] U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Marketing Service, “USDA Announces Rate Increase for Economic Adjustment Assistance for Textile Mills Program,” February 24, 2026, https://www.ams.usda.gov/press-release/usda-announces-rate-increase-economic-adjustment-assistance-textile-mills-program.

[3] Electronic Code of Federal Regulations, “7 CFR Part 870—Economic Adjustment Assistance for Textile Mills,” https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-7/subtitle-B/chapter-VIII/subchapter-B/part-870.

[4] U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Marketing Service, “Upland Cotton Domestic User Agreement,” https://www.ams.usda.gov/sites/default/files/media/ccc1045dom.pdf.

[5] Congressional Research Service, “One Big Beautiful Bill Act: Title I, Farm Safety Net and Miscellaneous Provisions,” https://www.everycrsreport.com/reports/R48574.html.

[6] Congressional Budget Office, “Estimated Budgetary Effects of Public Law 119-21,” July 21, 2025, https://www.cbo.gov/publication/61570.

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Legislative and Policy Analysis

Section 10310: Repayment of marketing loans

Executive Summary

Section 10310 changes how certain USDA marketing assistance loans are repaid, especially for rice, upland cotton, and extra long staple cotton. It amends Section 1204 of the Agricultural Act of 2014, codified at 7 U.S.C. 9034, by tying repayment more directly to prevailing world market prices and by creating a refund mechanism for upland cotton when the world market price falls further during the 30 days after repayment.[1]

The section does not create a standalone appropriation, grant program, tax credit, or fixed dollar amount. Its federal fiscal effect comes through the Commodity Credit Corporation and USDA Farm Service Agency administration of marketing assistance loans, loan repayments, possible refunds, and reduced or altered loan forfeiture exposure.[2]

In practical terms, the section gives USDA more detailed statutory instructions for how to calculate repayment rates for rice and cotton commodities. It may benefit producers when market prices are low by allowing repayment at lower market-linked rates rather than only at the original loan rate plus interest. It may also reduce the chance that commodities are forfeited to the federal government when market conditions make repayment uneconomic.[3]

What Section 10310 Actually Does

Section 10310 amends the repayment rules for marketing assistance loans under the Agricultural Act of 2014. Marketing assistance loans are USDA commodity loans that provide interim financing to producers after harvest so they do not have to sell commodities immediately when prices are low.[4]

This section does not state a new total funding amount. It does not appropriate a fixed number of dollars and does not create a separately capped payment pool. Instead, it changes repayment formulas within an existing mandatory farm-support financing structure administered through USDA and the Commodity Credit Corporation.[5]

The main legal changes are:

1. Rice repayment rule. Long grain rice and medium grain rice repayment may use the prevailing world market price for the commodity, as determined and adjusted by USDA.[1]

2. Upland cotton repayment rule. Upland cotton repayment may use the prevailing world market price, as determined and adjusted by USDA.[1]

3. Upland cotton refund. If a producer repays an upland cotton marketing assistance loan at the market-linked repayment rate, USDA must provide a refund if the lowest adjusted prevailing world market price during the 30 days after repayment is lower than the repayment rate.[1]

4. Extra long staple cotton. The section adds extra long staple cotton to repayment provisions that use prevailing world market prices and creates adjustment authority for quality, location, transportation costs, marketing competitiveness, stock accumulation, loan forfeiture risk, and crop-year price transitions.[1]

5. Upland cotton price quotation formula. For upland cotton, when Middling 1 3/32-inch cotton quotations are available, the formula must be based on the average of the three lowest-priced quoted growths.[1]

The policy effect is to make repayment rules more responsive to world market prices for affected commodities, particularly cotton. That can lower repayment costs for producers in weak markets, but it also means federal budget effects may depend heavily on commodity prices, repayment timing, and USDA’s calculation of adjusted world prices.

Legislative Mechanism

Section 10310 works by amending Section 1204 of the Agricultural Act of 2014, which governs repayment of marketing assistance loans.[1] It does not create a new USDA office or a new program. Instead, it revises the statutory formulas USDA already uses to determine whether a producer may repay a marketing assistance loan at a rate below the loan principal plus interest.

The mechanism is technical but financially important:

The core day-to-day legal change is that USDA must administer these loans using a more commodity-specific repayment structure, rather than a single generalized repayment approach.

Expenditure Tracking and Reporting Protocol

Section 10310 involves federal financial flows because it changes repayment amounts, possible refunds, and loan-forfeiture exposure under USDA marketing assistance loans. The relevant financing pathway is the Commodity Credit Corporation, a government corporation that funds many USDA commodity programs, including marketing assistance loans.[2]

The most likely tracking sources are:

Public tracking is likely to be partly visible but not cleanly section-specific. USDA may publish loan rates, adjusted world prices, and program notices. CCC financial statements and USDA budget documents may show broad commodity loan activity. But the fiscal effect of Section 10310 alone may be difficult to isolate because repayment-rate effects, refunds, and avoided forfeitures are likely embedded in broader CCC commodity program accounts.[6]

flowchart TD
    A[Statutory repayment rule] --> B[USDA FSA implementation]
    B --> C[Commodity loan records]
    B --> D[World price calculations]
    B --> E[Producer repayment]
    D --> F[Upland cotton refund review]
    E --> G[CCC accounting]
    F --> G
    G --> H[Treasury reporting]
    G --> I[USDA budget execution]
    G --> J[OMB budget controls]
    I --> K[Public reporting]
    H --> K
    J --> K
    G --> L[IG GAO Congress oversight]
    K --> M[Visibility aggregated]
    L --> M

The reporting protocol is likely to operate as follows:

1. USDA’s Farm Service Agency administers producer loans, repayments, and refund determinations through county and national program systems.
2. CCC records the loan asset, repayment, refund, forfeiture, or loss effect in its financial accounts.
3. USDA and CCC financial information flows into agency financial statements and Treasury government-wide reporting.
4. OMB and CBO reflect expected or realized budgetary effects in broader commodity program baselines and cost estimates.
5. Public users may see loan rates, price announcements, and broad CCC financial data, but not necessarily a distinct line item labeled “Section 10310.”

Day-to-Day Government Process Changes

For USDA, Section 10310 mainly changes program administration rather than creating a new service delivery channel.

USDA and FSA will need to:

For producers, the practical interaction remains familiar: apply for a marketing assistance loan, pledge eligible commodity collateral, maintain beneficial interest, repay the loan or settle it according to USDA rules, and work through FSA channels.[4] The difference is that repayment outcomes for affected commodities may depend more heavily on USDA’s adjusted world price calculations and, for upland cotton, on a post-repayment refund review.

Effects on Consumers

Section 10310 is unlikely to have a direct, immediate effect on retail consumers. It does not create consumer rebates, food assistance benefits, price controls, or retail purchase subsidies.

The indirect consumer effects may include:

The most consumer-relevant issue is that the section may increase the responsiveness of federal commodity support to market downturns. That can stabilize producer cash flow, but it does not guarantee lower grocery or clothing prices.

Effects on Businesses

Section 10310 most directly affects agricultural producers, cotton and rice market participants, lenders, warehouses, merchandisers, gins, mills, and commodity handlers.

The section is most favorable to producers when world market prices are below loan repayment obligations. In stronger markets, the practical effect may be smaller because producers may repay loans without relying on reduced market-linked repayment rates.

Environmental and Climate Impact

Section 10310 does not directly amend conservation compliance, climate programs, pesticide rules, irrigation rules, crop insurance conservation requirements, or land-use restrictions. Its environmental and climate impact is therefore indirect.

Potential indirect effects include:

The main environmental concern is that stronger commodity support can, at the margin, reduce market pressure to shift away from resource-intensive production. However, because Section 10310 concerns repayment formulas rather than acreage expansion, its independent environmental effect is likely limited and difficult to isolate.

Impact Summary

Section 10310 is a technical but meaningful commodity-finance provision. It changes the repayment economics of marketing assistance loans for rice and cotton by tying repayment more explicitly to prevailing world market prices and by adding a special upland cotton refund mechanism.

The section does not provide a fixed appropriation or easily visible section-specific funding stream. Its budgetary effects will move through CCC loan accounting, USDA FSA administration, producer repayment behavior, commodity price conditions, and potential changes in forfeitures or refunds.

The clearest beneficiaries are producers of affected commodities, especially upland cotton and extra long staple cotton producers facing weak market prices. Consumers are unlikely to see direct effects. Businesses in the rice and cotton supply chains may see improved producer liquidity and more orderly marketing. Environmental and climate effects are indirect and likely modest, but the section continues the broader federal policy of supporting commodity crop production through price-linked credit tools.

Key References and Sourcing

[1] Public Law 119-21, “H.R. 1 Enrolled Text, Section 10310, Repayment of marketing loans,” https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/BILLS-119hr1enr/pdf/BILLS-119hr1enr.pdf.

[2] USDA, “Commodity Credit Corporation,” overview of CCC commodity programs and marketing assistance loans, https://www.usda.gov/farming-and-ranching/resources-small-and-mid-sized-farmers/commodity-credit-corporation.

[3] Ohio State University Farm Office, “2025 Reconciliation Farm Bill – Summary Overview,” discussion of marketing loan repayment changes for cotton and rice, https://farmoffice.osu.edu/blog/fri-07112025-907am/2025-reconciliation-farm-bill-%E2%80%93-summary-overview.

[4] USDA Farm Service Agency, “Loan Deficiency Payments,” explanation of marketing assistance loans and loan deficiency payments as harvest-time marketing tools, https://www.fsa.usda.gov/resources/price-support/loan-deficiency-payments.

[5] Congressional Budget Office, “Estimated Budgetary Effects of Public Law 119-21,” enacted-law budget estimate, https://www.cbo.gov/publication/61570.

[6] Congressional Research Service, “The Farm Bill After FY2025 Budget Reconciliation,” summary of Title I budget effects and non-nutrition agriculture spending changes, https://www.everycrsreport.com/reports/R48775.html.

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Legislative and Policy Analysis

Section 10309: Marketing loans

Executive Summary

Section 10309 extends and increases federal marketing assistance loan support for major agricultural commodities. It keeps nonrecourse marketing assistance loans available through the 2031 crop year, creates a new set of loan rates for the 2026 through 2031 crop years, continues loan deficiency payment authority, restores cotton storage payments for the 2026 through 2031 crop years, extends special extra long staple cotton provisions through 2032, and continues recourse loan authority through 2031.[1]

The section does not appropriate a fixed dollar amount. Instead, it changes statutory loan rates and program terms for an existing USDA Farm Service Agency and Commodity Credit Corporation financing system. Federal budget exposure will depend on commodity production, market prices, loan use, repayment rates, forfeitures, cotton storage payments, and loan deficiency payment activity.

In plain terms, Section 10309 gives producers stronger harvest-time financing support and a higher statutory price-support floor for many covered commodities. The largest direct beneficiaries are producers of covered commodities, cotton producers and warehouses, and agricultural businesses that depend on crop cash flow. The consumer impact is indirect, mostly through farm income stabilization, taxpayer exposure, and possible changes in commodity marketing timing.

What Section 10309 Actually Does

Section 10309 amends the marketing loan provisions in subtitle B of title I of the Agricultural Act of 2014. It updates 7 U.S.C. 9031, 9032, 9034, 9035, 9036, 9038, and 9039, which govern marketing assistance loans, loan rates, cotton storage payments, loan deficiency payments, payments in lieu of loan deficiency payments, extra long staple cotton provisions, and recourse loans.[1]

Marketing assistance loans are short-term USDA commodity-backed loans. USDA describes marketing assistance loans as loans that use harvested commodities as collateral and provide interim financing after harvest, generally allowing producers to meet cash-flow needs without immediately selling commodities into potentially weak harvest-time markets.[2]

The section contains no single stated total appropriation, authorization level, grant amount, credit subsidy amount, or rescission amount. Its fiscal impact will depend on market conditions and producer use. However, it does set specific statutory loan rates for the 2026 through 2031 crop years.

The section also extends or restores several related authorities.

Loan deficiency payments are payments made to producers who are eligible for a Commodity Credit Corporation loan but agree to forgo the loan in exchange for a payment on the eligible commodity.[3] USDA also states that producers generally must have beneficial interest in the commodity to be eligible for a marketing assistance loan or loan deficiency payment.[4]

Legislative Mechanism

Section 10309 works through amendments to existing farm-bill law rather than through creation of a new program. Its mechanism is technical but important: it changes the statutory parameters inside the marketing loan system.

The section makes five main legal changes:

This is a price-support and liquidity provision. It does not guarantee that every farmer receives a payment, and it does not automatically spend a fixed amount. Federal cost arises when the program produces subsidy costs, storage payments, loan deficiency payments, repayment below loan value, administrative costs, or commodity forfeiture losses.

The key policy lever is the statutory loan rate. A higher loan rate can increase the value of the collateral-backed loan available to a producer and can increase the potential federal cost when market prices are below repayment or support thresholds.

Expenditure Tracking and Reporting Protocol

Section 10309 involves federal financial flows because it changes federal commodity loan rates and extends payment-related authorities. The primary administrative pathway is USDA’s Farm Service Agency, with financing and accounting through the Commodity Credit Corporation. USDA identifies marketing assistance loans as part of Commodity Credit Corporation commodity programs supporting farm income and agricultural commodity market stability.[5]

Likely tracking sources include:

USDA’s Commodity Credit Corporation budget materials report marketing assistance loan activity inside broader commodity program tables. For example, USDA’s FY 2027 CCC explanatory materials list marketing assistance loan outlays and distinguish loans made, recourse loans, and nonrecourse loans within the commodity program account structure.[6] That means public tracking is likely to be partially visible but aggregated. Section-specific effects may be difficult to isolate because the amended loan rates flow through existing CCC and FSA systems rather than through a new dedicated public reporting channel.

flowchart TD
    A[Statutory marketing loan authority] --> B[USDA FSA guidance]
    B --> C[CCC financing]
    C --> D[Producer application]
    D --> E[Eligibility and beneficial interest review]
    E --> F[Loan LDP or storage payment]
    F --> G[Repayment forfeiture or payment accounting]
    G --> H[USDA and CCC budget execution]

    H --> I[FSA program records]
    H --> J[Treasury reporting]
    H --> K[OMB apportionment]
    H --> L[USDA budget documents]
    H --> M[CCC financial statements]
    H --> N[USAspending where visible]
    H --> O[IG GAO and Congress]

    I --> P[Public visibility aggregated or delayed]
    J --> P
    K --> P
    L --> P
    M --> P
    N --> P
    O --> P

The reporting protocol is likely to work as follows:

If market prices remain above repayment and support thresholds, federal costs may be limited mostly to administration and financing effects. If prices fall below relevant thresholds, costs can rise through loan deficiency payments, storage payments, repayment gains, forfeitures, or CCC losses.

Day-to-Day Government Process Changes

For USDA and FSA, Section 10309 is an implementation-heavy update to an existing program. It requires new rate tables, updated county-office guidance, revised software calculations, producer notices, and continued CCC financing and accounting procedures.

The producer-facing paperwork remains important. Producers generally must retain beneficial interest in the commodity, meaning they must maintain control, title, and risk of loss during the relevant eligibility period.[4] That requirement affects when a producer can sell, pledge, transfer, or request an LDP.

Effects on Consumers

Section 10309 does not directly change SNAP benefits, school meals, grocery pricing rules, or consumer food assistance. Its consumer effects are indirect.

The key consumer issue is not immediate price relief. It is whether the federal government should provide a larger commodity-price backstop and how much public cost that backstop creates under weak market conditions.

Effects on Businesses

Section 10309 most directly affects agricultural producers and businesses tied to covered commodities.

For businesses, the main effect is cash-flow timing. A marketing assistance loan lets a producer borrow against the commodity rather than selling immediately. That can be valuable when prices are low after harvest or when the producer expects better prices later. However, it can also create more complicated marketing decisions and paperwork.

The provision may benefit larger producers more in absolute dollars because benefits scale with eligible production volume. Smaller producers can still benefit, but they may face practical barriers such as storage access, administrative complexity, or limited familiarity with FSA loan tools.

Environmental and Climate Impact

Section 10309 is not an environmental regulation, conservation program, or climate program. It does not impose new conservation requirements, greenhouse-gas limits, water-quality standards, or land-use restrictions.

However, commodity support policy can have indirect environmental effects because it influences production incentives.

The climate impact is therefore indirect and uncertain. The section is best understood as an agricultural income-support and liquidity provision with possible secondary land-use and production effects, not as a direct environmental policy.

Impact Summary

Section 10309 strengthens the marketing loan safety net for covered commodities by extending authority and increasing statutory loan rates for the 2026 through 2031 crop years. It is especially relevant to producers of wheat, corn, soybeans, cotton, rice, peanuts, pulses, wool, mohair, honey, and oilseeds.

The section’s benefits are concentrated in the agricultural production chain. Farmers may gain stronger cash-flow support, cotton producers may gain storage-payment assistance, and commodity handlers may see shifts in marketing and storage behavior. Consumers are affected indirectly through taxpayer exposure, rural economic effects, and possible supply-stabilization effects rather than through direct retail price changes.

The most important accountability issue is visibility. Because the section modifies an existing CCC and FSA program rather than creating a new separately tracked fund, public reporting will likely be aggregated across commodity-program accounts. USDA budget documents, CCC financial reporting, Treasury data, and oversight reports may show the broader flows, but isolating the precise public cost of Section 10309 may be difficult without detailed USDA or CBO reporting.

Key References and Sourcing

[1] Office of the Law Revision Counsel, “7 U.S.C. 9032: Loan rates for nonrecourse marketing assistance loans,” codified text and amendment notes for Public Law 119-21, https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?edition=prelim&num=0&req=granuleid%3AUSC-prelim-title7-section9032.

[2] USDA Farm Service Agency, “Marketing Assistance Loans,” explanation of MAL terms, collateral, and loan rates, https://www.fsa.usda.gov/resources/loans/marketing-assistance-loans-mal.

[3] USDA Farm Service Agency, “Loan Deficiency Payments,” explanation of LDPs for producers who forgo CCC loans, https://www.fsa.usda.gov/resources/price-support/loan-deficiency-payments.

[4] USDA Farm Service Agency, “Commodity Loans,” explanation of marketing assistance loans, LDPs, recourse loans, and beneficial interest eligibility, https://www.fsa.usda.gov/resources/price-support/commodity-loans.

[5] USDA, “Commodity Credit Corporation,” overview of CCC commodity programs including marketing assistance loans, https://www.usda.gov/farming-and-ranching/resources-small-and-mid-sized-farmers/commodity-credit-corporation.

[6] USDA, “FY 2027 Commodity Credit Corporation Explanatory Notes,” budget tables and commodity-program reporting for marketing assistance loans, https://www.usda.gov/sites/default/files/documents/FY-2027-Chapter-29-CCC.pdf.

[7] Center for Agricultural Law and Taxation, “Reviewing the Agricultural Provisions in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” agricultural-law summary of Section 10309, https://www.calt.iastate.edu/post/reviewing-agricultural-provisions-one-big-beautiful-bill-act.

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Legislative and Policy Analysis

Section 10308: Adjusted gross income limitation

Executive Summary

Section 10308 changes the adjusted gross income rules for certain USDA farm program benefits. It does not create a new appropriation, grant program, tax credit, loan authority, or direct funding line. Instead, it creates an exception to the existing $900,000 average adjusted gross income limitation for certain disaster assistance and conservation payments when at least 75 percent of a person’s or legal entity’s average gross income comes from farming, ranching, or silviculture activities.[1]

In practical terms, Section 10308 allows some higher-income farm, ranch, forestry, specialty crop, and diversified agricultural operations to remain eligible for specified USDA benefits that otherwise could be blocked by the $900,000 AGI cap. The provision is especially relevant for operations with high gross receipts but large expenses, such as specialty crop farms, livestock operations, vertically integrated farms, diversified family farm businesses, and farms with direct-to-consumer or agritourism income.

The section also expands the meaning of farming, ranching, or silviculture activities to include agritourism, direct-to-consumer marketing of agricultural products, sales of agricultural equipment owned by the person or legal entity, and other agriculture-related activities determined by USDA.[2]

What Section 10308 Actually Does

Section 10308 amends Section 1001D(b) of the Food Security Act of 1985, codified at 7 U.S.C. 1308-3a(b). Current law generally bars a person or legal entity from receiving covered commodity and conservation program benefits if that person or entity has average adjusted gross income above $900,000.[3]

Section 10308 adds a new exception for certain operations. For an “excepted payment or benefit,” the $900,000 AGI limitation does not apply if at least 75 percent of the person’s or legal entity’s average gross income comes from farming, ranching, or silviculture activities.[4]

The section identifies the covered “excepted payment or benefit” categories as:

The most important quantified thresholds in Section 10308 are not appropriations. They are eligibility thresholds:

Because this is an eligibility expansion rather than a standalone funding line, the budget effect would occur through increased access to already authorized USDA payment pathways. CBO’s broader estimate for Public Law 119-21 identifies major federal budget effects across the law, but Section 10308 is not a cleanly separable public line item in ordinary award-level datasets.[8]

Legislative Mechanism

Section 10308 works by cross-reference and exception. It does not rewrite every affected USDA program. Instead, it amends the AGI eligibility statute that sits upstream of many USDA payment decisions.

The mechanism has four parts.

First, it changes the existing AGI limitation rule so the $900,000 cap is subject not only to the existing special-significance conservation waiver but also to the new exception for certain operations.[9]

Second, it defines “excepted payment or benefit” to include supplemental agricultural disaster assistance, Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program benefits, and certain conservation payments or benefits received on or after October 1, 2024.[10]

Third, it broadens the covered income concept by defining “farming, ranching, or silviculture activities” to include agritourism, direct-to-consumer marketing of agricultural products, sale of agricultural equipment owned by the person or entity, and other agriculture-related activities determined by USDA.[11]

Fourth, it leaves USDA to administer the exception through Farm Service Agency and Natural Resources Conservation Service eligibility systems. USDA’s implementation materials explain that participants subject to AGI rules must certify eligibility, that IRS consent is used for AGI verification, and that participants seeking the 75 percent exception use certification procedures such as CCC-943.[12]

Expenditure Tracking and Reporting Protocol

Section 10308 affects federal financial flows indirectly. It does not appropriate a separate pool of money. It changes who can qualify for certain USDA payments and benefits. As a result, the spending pathway is likely to be tracked through the existing accounts and systems for the underlying USDA programs rather than through a Section 10308-specific public account.

Likely tracking sources include USDA Farm Service Agency program records, Natural Resources Conservation Service program records for covered conservation benefits, Commodity Credit Corporation budget execution where applicable, Treasury outlay reporting, OMB apportionment materials, USDA financial reporting, USAspending.gov where award-level reporting exists, and oversight by USDA’s Inspector General, GAO, and Congress.

Public tracking is likely to be partly visible but difficult to isolate. The underlying payments may be visible in USDA program data or USAspending.gov when reportable, but the public may not be able to distinguish payments made only because Section 10308 waived the AGI limitation from payments made to producers already below the $900,000 AGI cap.

flowchart TD
    A[Statutory AGI exception] --> B[USDA eligibility rules]
    B --> C[FSA and NRCS records]
    C --> D{Payment type}
    D --> E[Disaster assistance]
    D --> F[NAP benefits]
    D --> G[Conservation benefits]
    E --> H[Program payment systems]
    F --> H
    G --> H
    H --> I[CCC and USDA budget execution]
    I --> J[Treasury outlay reporting]
    I --> K[OMB apportionment]
    I --> L[USDA financial reports]
    H --> M[USAspending where visible]
    J --> N[Oversight and public reporting]
    K --> N
    L --> N
    M --> N
    N --> O[Visibility partly aggregated]

The reporting protocol will likely operate as follows:

The main limitation is traceability. If a producer receives a disaster or conservation payment after qualifying under the 75 percent exception, the public payment record may not identify that Section 10308 was the reason the producer passed the AGI screen.

Day-to-Day Government Process Changes

For USDA, Section 10308 adds another eligibility pathway to program administration. FSA and NRCS offices must distinguish between applicants who are below the general $900,000 AGI cap and applicants who exceed that cap but qualify because at least 75 percent of average gross income comes from farming, ranching, or silviculture activities.

County offices and service centers will likely need to process more income-composition certifications, tax professional verification statements, and ownership or entity records. USDA’s 2026 implementation rule states that the $900,000 AGI limitation is waived beginning with program year 2026 when the person or legal entity meets the 75 percent farm-income test, the payment is an excepted payment, and acceptable certification is provided.[13]

For producers, the day-to-day change is paperwork and planning. Producers above the $900,000 average AGI threshold may need to document income sources across the relevant tax years, coordinate with a CPA, attorney, or enrolled agent, and file the required USDA certification materials before benefits can be approved.

For USDA compliance staff, the change increases the importance of audit trails. The agency must be able to verify not only AGI but also whether enough gross income is tied to qualifying farming, ranching, silviculture, agritourism, direct-to-consumer marketing, equipment sales, or other USDA-recognized agriculture-related activities.

Effects on Consumers

Section 10308 does not directly change retail food prices, SNAP benefits, grocery assistance, crop insurance premiums paid by consumers, or consumer-facing food safety rules.

The consumer effect is indirect. By allowing more high-gross-income agricultural operations to qualify for certain disaster and conservation benefits, the section may help some producers recover from disasters or participate in conservation programs. That can support continuity of production in sectors where farms may have high gross receipts but narrow margins, including specialty crops, livestock, and diversified operations.

The effect is not likely to be visible to consumers as a separate price change. Any consumer-level effect would be filtered through farm production, regional supply conditions, disaster recovery, and commodity or specialty crop markets.

Effects on Businesses

Section 10308 is most important for agricultural businesses with high gross receipts and substantial business expenses. A $900,000 AGI cap can affect different farm businesses differently depending on tax structure, ownership, commodity mix, and income volatility. The new exception may help operations whose income is overwhelmingly agricultural but whose average AGI exceeds the general cap.

Potentially affected businesses include:

The provision may also affect competitive dynamics. Producers below the AGI cap already had access to covered benefits if they met other eligibility rules. Section 10308 expands access for some larger or more commercially complex operations, which could shift some disaster or conservation support toward farms with higher gross income but qualifying agricultural income composition.

Environmental and Climate Impact

Section 10308 has mixed environmental implications.

On the positive side, the exception applies to certain conservation payments or benefits. That may allow larger or higher-income agricultural operations to participate in conservation programs when they otherwise would be blocked by the AGI cap. Because large operations may control significant acreage, expanded eligibility could increase participation in conservation practices, habitat protection, soil health measures, water quality improvements, or other USDA conservation activities, depending on the program and implementation choices.

On the other hand, the section does not itself require additional conservation outcomes. It expands eligibility for certain benefits; it does not add new environmental performance standards, climate benchmarks, emissions requirements, or public reporting of environmental outcomes. If expanded eligibility primarily increases disaster payments without changing land management, the climate or environmental benefit may be limited.

The environmental effect therefore depends on which payments are most affected. If the main effect is more participation in conservation programs, environmental benefits may increase. If the main effect is broader access to disaster assistance, the environmental effect is more likely to be indirect and tied to recovery after droughts, floods, wildfires, or other weather-related events.

Impact Summary

Section 10308 is a targeted eligibility expansion for certain USDA disaster and conservation benefits. It keeps the general $900,000 average AGI limitation in place but creates a significant exception for operations that derive at least 75 percent of average gross income from farming, ranching, or silviculture activities.

The section is likely to matter most for higher-gross-income agricultural operations, specialty crop producers, diversified farms, agritourism operations, direct-market farms, ranchers, and forestry-related businesses. It does not create a new funding account, so its fiscal effects will be embedded in the spending patterns of the underlying USDA programs.

The strongest transparency concern is that public reporting may show the payment but not the reason the recipient qualified. Without USDA reporting that flags Section 10308-based eligibility, the public may have difficulty determining how much federal spending is attributable to this new exception.

Key References and Sourcing

[1] U.S. House Office of the Law Revision Counsel, “7 U.S.C. 1308-3a: Adjusted gross income limitation,” https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?edition=prelim&num=0&req=granuleid%3AUSC-prelim-title7-section1308-3a.

[2] House Rules Committee, “H.R. 1 legislative text,” Section 10308, https://rules.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/rules.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/file_8654.pdf.

[3] U.S. House Office of the Law Revision Counsel, “7 U.S.C. 1308-3a: Adjusted gross income limitation,” statutory $900,000 AGI limitation, https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?edition=prelim&num=0&req=granuleid%3AUSC-prelim-title7-section1308-3a.

[4] U.S. House Office of the Law Revision Counsel, “7 U.S.C. 1308-3a(b)(4): Exception for certain operations,” https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?edition=prelim&num=0&req=granuleid%3AUSC-prelim-title7-section1308-3a.

[5] U.S. House Office of the Law Revision Counsel, “7 U.S.C. 9081: Supplemental agricultural disaster assistance,” https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=%28title%3A7+section%3A9081+edition%3Aprelim%29.

[6] Legal Information Institute, “7 U.S. Code § 7333: Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program,” https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/7/7333.

[7] U.S. House Office of the Law Revision Counsel, “7 U.S.C. 1308-3a(b)(2)(C) and (b)(4),” https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?edition=prelim&num=0&req=granuleid%3AUSC-prelim-title7-section1308-3a.

[8] Congressional Budget Office, “Estimated Budgetary Effects of Public Law 119-21,” July 21, 2025, https://www.cbo.gov/publication/61570.

[9] House Rules Committee, “H.R. 1 legislative text,” Section 10308 amendment to Section 1001D(b)(1), https://rules.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/rules.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/file_8654.pdf.

[10] House Rules Committee, “H.R. 1 legislative text,” Section 10308 definition of “excepted payment or benefit,” https://rules.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/rules.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/file_8654.pdf.

[11] House Rules Committee, “H.R. 1 legislative text,” Section 10308 definition of “farming, ranching, or silviculture activities,” https://rules.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/rules.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/file_8654.pdf.

[12] USDA Farm Service Agency, “Adjusted Gross Income,” https://www.fsa.usda.gov/tools/informational/payment-eligibility/adjusted-gross-income.

[13] Federal Register, “Payment Limitation and Payment Eligibility,” June 2, 2026, https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/06/02/2026-11002/payment-limitation-and-payment-eligibility.

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Legislative and Policy Analysis

Section 10307: Payment limitations

Executive Summary

Section 10307 raises the federal farm commodity program payment limitation from $0.125 million ($125,000) to $0.155 million ($155,000) for the covered payment categories in subsections 1001(b) and 1001(c) of the Food Security Act of 1985, and it requires USDA to adjust those limits annually for inflation beginning with the 2025 crop year.[1]

The practical effect is that eligible producers and eligible legal entities may receive larger annual payments under affected commodity support programs before hitting the statutory cap. The change is especially important when paired with the neighboring qualified pass-through entity provisions, because USDA’s implementing rule explains that qualified pass-through entities may have their maximum payment limitation calculated by multiplying the applicable limit by the number of qualifying owners or entities in the ownership structure.[2]

Section 10307 does not create a new grant program, tax credit, loan authority, or direct appropriation. It changes the ceiling on payments that may already be made through existing USDA Farm Service Agency and Commodity Credit Corporation program pathways.

What Section 10307 Actually Does

Section 10307 amends section 1001 of the Food Security Act of 1985, codified at 7 U.S.C. 1308. It changes two statutory payment limits from $0.125 million ($125,000) to $0.155 million ($155,000), and then adds a new inflation-adjustment rule for the 2025 crop year and each crop year after that.[1]

The section is a payment-cap increase, not a standalone appropriation. No total section-specific dollar amount is stated in the section text. Its federal cost depends on program participation, commodity prices, farm yields, base acres, ownership structures, and how many producers would otherwise have been constrained by the prior $0.125 million cap.

USDA’s Farm Service Agency payment-limitation materials show that ARC and PLC payments for 2025 are listed at $0.155 million, while certain conservation and disaster programs have separate limits that are not the main subject of this section.[3]

Legislative Mechanism

Section 10307 uses a direct amendment to permanent farm-program payment limitation law. It does three things:

1. In section 1001(b), it makes the existing limit subject to the new inflation-adjustment subsection and replaces $0.125 million with $0.155 million.[1]
2. In section 1001(c), it makes the parallel limit subject to the new inflation-adjustment subsection and replaces $0.125 million with $0.155 million.[1]
3. It adds a new subsection 1001(i), requiring the Secretary of Agriculture to adjust those amounts annually for inflation using CPI-U.[1]

Because the section amends the payment-limit statute directly, USDA implementation occurs through FSA and Commodity Credit Corporation payment eligibility, attribution, and payment calculation systems rather than through a new application portal.

Expenditure Tracking and Reporting Protocol

Section 10307 affects federal financial flows because it allows higher payments under existing farm commodity programs. The relevant spending is likely to be tracked through USDA Farm Service Agency program records, Commodity Credit Corporation budget execution, Treasury outlay systems, OMB apportionment controls, and USDA financial reporting. Public visibility is likely to be mixed: aggregate program spending may be visible, but the specific budget effect of raising the payment limit may be difficult to isolate from other commodity program changes.

The main administering agency is USDA, principally FSA, with CCC as the financing and budget execution vehicle for many commodity program payments. FSA county offices and state offices collect producer certifications, ownership information, farm operating plans, payment eligibility documentation, and program elections. USDA then applies statutory and regulatory payment limits before payments are issued.

USDA’s 2026 final rule explains that payment attribution is tracked through four levels of ownership, and that qualified pass-through entities receive a maximum payment limitation based on the applicable announced payment limitation multiplied by the number of qualifying owners or entities that comprise the ownership of the qualified pass-through entity.[2] FSA’s public payment-limitation materials likewise explain that payments are attributed through ownership structures and that qualified pass-through entity limits are calculated by multiplying the program limit by qualifying ownership units.[3]

flowchart TD
    A[Statutory cap increase] --> B[USDA FSA updates payment limits]
    B --> C[Farm records and ownership review]
    C --> D[Eligibility and attribution checks]
    D --> E[ARC PLC and related payment calculations]
    E --> F[CCC and USDA budget execution]
    F --> G[Treasury outlay reporting]
    G --> H[Oversight and public reporting]

    H --> I[FSA program records]
    H --> J[USDA financial reports]
    H --> K[OMB apportionment materials]
    H --> L[Treasury account reporting]
    H --> M[USAspending.gov where visible]
    H --> N[USDA IG GAO and congressional oversight]

    I --> O[Public visibility likely aggregated]
    J --> O
    K --> O
    L --> O
    M --> O
    N --> O

Reporting is likely to work as follows: producers and entities report eligibility, ownership, and operating information to FSA; FSA applies payment limitation and attribution rules; USDA and CCC record obligations and outlays through federal budget execution systems; Treasury records federal payments; and oversight bodies such as USDA’s Inspector General, GAO, and congressional committees may review compliance and program integrity.

Section-specific tracking will likely be difficult. Public datasets may show broader ARC, PLC, CCC, or USDA account activity, but they may not separately identify the marginal outlays caused only by increasing the cap from $0.125 million to $0.155 million or by adjusting it annually for inflation.

Day-to-Day Government Process Changes

For USDA and FSA, the main day-to-day change is operational. FSA payment systems, handbooks, producer notices, county office workflows, and compliance checks must apply a higher payment cap and update that cap annually for inflation.

For county offices, the practical work includes reviewing ownership structures, identifying whether a producer is a person, ordinary legal entity, or qualified pass-through entity, applying attribution rules through ownership tiers, and determining whether any owner has already reached the maximum limitation.[2][3]

For producers, the change means farm operating plans and ownership information become more important. Entities that previously hit the old cap may need to verify their ownership and eligibility records so FSA can calculate the correct limitation. For 2026, USDA stated that current LLC and corporation participants must file updated farm operating plans to declare their operation type, and that ownership interest for qualified pass-through entities for the 2026 program year will be determined using September 15, 2026.[2]

Effects on Consumers

Section 10307 does not directly change SNAP benefits, grocery prices, food labeling, retail food rules, or consumer eligibility for any program. Its consumer effects are indirect.

The strongest consumer-facing argument for the section is that larger commodity program payment limits may provide additional income stability for some farms during low-price or low-revenue years. That could help maintain production capacity in covered commodities. However, the effect on retail grocery prices is likely to be limited and indirect because consumer food prices reflect many factors beyond farm program payments, including processing, transportation, labor, energy, retail margins, exports, and global commodity markets.

The distributional effect is also uneven. Consumers do not receive payments under this section. The direct beneficiaries are eligible producers and farm entities that would otherwise be constrained by the prior statutory payment cap.

Effects on Businesses

The most direct business impact is on farms and farm entities participating in covered commodity programs. Larger operations, multi-owner operations, and entities with payment-eligible owners may be more likely to benefit because they are more likely to approach or exceed the prior $0.125 million limit.

The increase to $0.155 million may improve cash flow for eligible farms in years when ARC, PLC, or related payments are triggered. For some farms, the change may support debt service, land rent payments, input purchases, payroll, or working capital.

The section may also affect business structuring incentives. When combined with the qualified pass-through entity rules implemented by USDA, the higher cap may increase the value of correctly documenting ownership, active engagement in farming, and payment attribution. This could increase demand for accountants, farm attorneys, lenders, and consultants who help producers manage USDA eligibility and entity-structure compliance.

Smaller farms that do not approach the old payment cap may see little or no direct benefit. Businesses outside commodity agriculture may experience only indirect effects through farm purchasing power or local agricultural economies.

Environmental and Climate Impact

Section 10307 has no direct environmental standard, conservation condition, emissions requirement, climate funding stream, or land-use mandate. Its environmental impact is therefore indirect.

The main possible environmental effect is through production incentives. Higher payment limits can increase the maximum federal support available to larger or more complex commodity operations when payments are triggered. That may modestly reinforce existing commodity crop production patterns, depending on prices, base acres, and program participation.

The section does not itself require conservation compliance changes, fund climate-smart practices, or alter conservation program payment limits such as CRP, EQIP, or CSP. Any environmental effect would likely depend on how producers respond to the broader commodity title, not this payment-limit increase alone.

Impact Summary

Section 10307 is a targeted but important farm safety-net change. It raises the commodity program payment cap from $0.125 million to $0.155 million and indexes the limit for inflation going forward. The direct beneficiaries are payment-eligible producers and farm entities that would otherwise hit the prior cap.

The section is administratively significant because USDA must update payment systems, apply annual inflation adjustments, and coordinate the new cap with ownership attribution and qualified pass-through entity rules. It is fiscally significant because it can increase federal outlays under existing commodity programs, but the section-specific amount will likely be hard to isolate in public reporting.

For consumers and the environment, the effects are mostly indirect. For farm businesses, especially larger or multi-owner commodity operations, the section may materially increase payment capacity and reduce the risk that statutory caps limit otherwise available support.

Key References and Sourcing

[1] Senate Budget Committee, “The One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” Section 10307, lines amending 7 U.S.C. 1308, https://www.budget.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/the_one_big_beautiful_bill_act.pdf.

[2] Federal Register, “Payment Limitation and Payment Eligibility,” USDA Commodity Credit Corporation final rule, June 2, 2026, Federal Register :: Payment Limitation and Payment Eligibility.

[3] USDA Farm Service Agency, “Payment Limitations,” payment attribution and payment limitation guidance, Payment Limitations | Farm Service Agency.

[4] Iowa State University Center for Agricultural Law and Taxation, “Reviewing the Agricultural Provisions in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” July 11, 2025, Reviewing the Agricultural Provisions in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act | Center for Agricultural Law and Taxation.

[5] Bureau of Labor Statistics, “Consumer Price Index,” CPI-U reference materials, https://www.bls.gov/cpi/.

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Legislative and Policy Analysis

Section 10306: Equitable treatment of certain entities

Executive Summary

Section 10306 changes how USDA applies farm program payment limits to certain business entities. It expands the special pass-through treatment previously available to joint ventures and general partnerships so that partnerships, S corporations, and limited liability companies that are not taxed as corporations can receive payment-limit treatment based on their eligible owners rather than being capped as one legal entity.[1]

The practical effect is that some farm businesses organized as LLCs or S corporations may qualify for higher total federal farm program payments when multiple owners are actively engaged in farming. USDA’s implementing rule states that this change is projected to increase federal outlays by $597 million over 10 years.[2]

This section does not create a new consumer program, grant program, conservation program, or procurement account. Its main impact is on farm payment eligibility, payment limitation calculations, ownership attribution, and Farm Service Agency review of entity structures.

What Section 10306 Actually Does

Section 10306 amends the Food Security Act of 1985 payment limitation framework, especially 7 U.S.C. 1308 and related eligibility provisions, by adding and applying the concept of a “qualified pass-through entity.”[1]

The new category includes:

Before this change, USDA treated joint ventures and general partnerships differently from many other legal entities. A joint venture or general partnership could receive payments up to the applicable payment limit multiplied by the number of eligible persons or entities in the operation. Other legal entities, such as many LLCs or S corporations, were generally capped at a single payment limit regardless of how many eligible owners they had.[3]

Section 10306 broadens that treatment. USDA’s implementing rule explains that qualified pass-through entities include partnerships under subchapter K of the Internal Revenue Code, S corporations, LLCs that do not elect corporate tax treatment, joint ventures, and general partnerships.[4]

The section also affects “actively engaged in farming” determinations. For a qualified pass-through entity to qualify, the entity must separately contribute capital, equipment, or land, and members must make significant contributions of personal labor or active personal management. The contributions must be commensurate with the member’s share of the farming operation and at risk.[5]

Legislative Mechanism

Section 10306 works by amending existing farm payment limitation statutes rather than creating a standalone payment program. It changes the legal entity category used in payment limitation and attribution rules, replacing narrower treatment for “joint ventures and general partnerships” with broader treatment for “qualified pass-through entities.”[1]

The mechanism has three main parts:

1. It creates or applies a statutory definition of “qualified pass-through entity.”
2. It extends payment-limit multiplication treatment to those entities.
3. It aligns payment eligibility rules so members of those entities can be evaluated under active-farming contribution standards.

In administrative terms, this means USDA must update regulations, FSA handbooks, eligibility forms, ownership review procedures, farm operating plan reviews, and payment attribution calculations. USDA implemented the change through amendments to 7 CFR part 1400, beginning with program year 2026.[6]

Expenditure Tracking and Reporting Protocol

Section 10306 affects federal financial flows by increasing the amount certain farm entities may receive under existing farm payment programs. The spending does not appear as a new Section 10306 grant line item. It is likely embedded in ordinary Commodity Credit Corporation, Farm Service Agency, and related USDA program outlays for covered commodity, disaster, conservation, price support, and similar payment programs governed by payment limitation rules.

The likely tracking sources are USDA budget execution systems, Commodity Credit Corporation financial reporting, FSA program payment records, Treasury outlay reporting, OMB apportionment and budget execution materials, and public datasets such as USAspending.gov where payments are reported at an award or assistance-transaction level. Oversight may also occur through USDA Inspector General reviews, GAO reviews, congressional oversight, and Federal Register rulemaking materials.

Public visibility is likely mixed. The total federal outlay effect is identifiable in USDA’s regulatory analysis, which projects $597 million over 10 years for the qualified pass-through entity change.[2] But section-specific payments to individual entities may be difficult to isolate in public datasets because the provision changes eligibility and payment-limit calculations inside broader USDA programs rather than creating a separate account.

flowchart TD
    A[Statutory change] --> B[USDA updates payment rules]
    B --> C[FSA reviews entity structure and ownership]
    C --> D[Qualified pass-through entity determination]
    D --> E[Active farming and AGI checks]
    E --> F[Payment limit calculated by eligible owners]
    F --> G[Program payments made through existing USDA pathways]
    G --> H[Tracking and oversight]

    H --> I[FSA program records]
    H --> J[CCC and USDA budget execution]
    H --> K[Treasury outlay reporting]
    H --> L[OMB apportionment materials]
    H --> M[USAspending.gov where visible]
    H --> N[USDA IG GAO and congressional oversight]

The reporting protocol is therefore indirect: producers and entities report ownership, operating-plan, contribution, and eligibility information to FSA; FSA applies payment limitation and attribution rules; USDA and CCC record program payments; Treasury and OMB track federal outlays and budget execution; and public or oversight reporting appears through broader USDA payment, budget, rulemaking, audit, and federal spending systems.

Day-to-Day Government Process Changes

For USDA and FSA, Section 10306 changes the administrative work of determining who is eligible for farm payments and how much an entity may receive.

FSA offices will need to:

The section may increase the importance of farm operating plans, entity documents, tax classification records, ownership schedules, management contribution records, and FSA determinations about whether members are genuinely actively engaged in farming.

Effects on Consumers

Section 10306 has no direct consumer benefit, rebate, eligibility rule, food assistance change, or retail price control. Consumers are unlikely to see a clear line from this section to grocery prices.

Indirectly, the section could affect consumers through farm-income stabilization if higher payments help some farms remain financially viable during low-price or disaster years. However, the benefit is concentrated among eligible farm businesses and their owners, not consumers generally. Any consumer price effect is likely indirect, diffuse, and difficult to measure because commodity markets are shaped by many factors beyond payment-limit rules.

Effects on Businesses

The main business impact is on farm businesses organized as pass-through entities. LLCs, S corporations, partnerships, joint ventures, and general partnerships may receive more favorable payment-limit treatment if their owners meet eligibility requirements.[4]

Potential business effects include:

The policy concern is that the section may reward larger or more complex farm business structures more than smaller operations. The policy defense is that similarly situated owners in pass-through entities should not be treated less favorably merely because they use an LLC or S corporation rather than a general partnership.

Environmental and Climate Impact

Section 10306 is primarily an administrative payment-limit provision. USDA concluded in its implementing rule that the payment eligibility and payment limitation changes are administrative payment programs and do not constitute major federal actions significantly affecting the quality of the human environment, individually or cumulatively.[7]

The section does not directly authorize conservation practices, climate mitigation, land retirement, renewable energy deployment, emissions reduction, water-quality projects, or habitat restoration. Its environmental impact is therefore likely indirect.

Possible indirect effects include:

The environmental and climate impact is best described as indirect and uncertain, with no dedicated environmental performance condition built into the section.

Impact Summary

Section 10306 is a farm payment-limit expansion for certain pass-through entities. It does not create a new program, but it changes who can receive higher aggregate payments within existing USDA programs. USDA projects the qualified pass-through entity change will increase federal outlays by $597 million over 10 years.[2]

The biggest winners are likely multi-owner farm businesses organized as LLCs, S corporations, partnerships, joint ventures, or general partnerships whose members can satisfy active-farming and ownership requirements. The biggest governance risk is that public tracking may not clearly show the section-specific effect because the spending flows through existing USDA payment systems rather than a dedicated Section 10306 account.

Key References and Sourcing

[1] Public Law 119-21, “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” Section 10306, GovInfo.

[2] USDA Commodity Credit Corporation, “Payment Limitation and Payment Eligibility,” Federal Register, June 2, 2026, cost-benefit summary projecting $597 million in increased outlays over 10 years for qualified pass-through entity treatment, Federal Register :: Payment Limitation and Payment Eligibility.

[3] USDA Commodity Credit Corporation, “Payment Limitation and Payment Eligibility,” discussion of pre-OBBBA treatment of joint ventures, general partnerships, and other legal entities, Federal Register :: Payment Limitation and Payment Eligibility.

[4] USDA Commodity Credit Corporation, “Payment Limitation and Payment Eligibility,” definition of qualified pass-through entity, Federal Register :: Payment Limitation and Payment Eligibility.

[5] USDA Commodity Credit Corporation, “Payment Limitation and Payment Eligibility,” active engagement requirements for qualified pass-through entities, Federal Register :: Payment Limitation and Payment Eligibility.

[6] USDA Farm Service Agency, “USDA Expands Payment Limitation and Payment Eligibility Provisions for Farmers,” June 3, 2026, program year 2026 implementation summary, USDA Expands Payment Limitation and Payment Eligibility Provisions for Farmers | Farm Service Agency.

[7] USDA Commodity Credit Corporation, “Payment Limitation and Payment Eligibility,” environmental review under NEPA and finding that the action does not significantly affect the human environment, Federal Register :: Payment Limitation and Payment Eligibility.

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Legislative and Policy Analysis

Section 10305: Agriculture risk coverage

Executive Summary

Section 10305 modifies the Agriculture Risk Coverage program, commonly called ARC, by extending ARC authority through the 2031 crop year and increasing the level of revenue protection available under the program for crop years 2025 through 2031.[1] The section raises the ARC guarantee to 90 percent of benchmark revenue and raises the payment cap to 12 percent of benchmark revenue for the 2025 through 2031 crop years.[2]

The practical effect is a stronger federal farm safety-net payment formula for producers with eligible base acres when county or individual farm revenue falls below statutory thresholds. The section does not create a new standalone grant program or a separately named appropriation. Instead, it changes formulas inside an existing mandatory commodity support program administered by USDA’s Farm Service Agency through the Commodity Credit Corporation.[3]

What Section 10305 Actually Does

Section 10305 amends section 1117 of the Agricultural Act of 2014, codified at 7 U.S.C. 9017, which governs Agriculture Risk Coverage.[1] The main changes are:

The section’s most important policy change is that ARC becomes more generous when actual revenue falls below benchmark revenue. For ARC-CO, USDA calculates revenue at the county level, using county yields and national market-year average prices. For ARC-IC, USDA calculates revenue at the individual-farm level across covered commodities on the farm.[4]

This means Section 10305 does not pay producers simply because they plant a current crop. ARC payments are tied to historical base acres and statutory formulas, not directly to the farmer’s current planted acreage in the same way a crop sale or crop insurance indemnity would be.[5]

Legislative Mechanism

Section 10305 works by amending existing statutory text rather than creating a new program from scratch. It changes the operative dates and payment formula terms in section 1117 of the Agricultural Act of 2014.[1]

The legislative mechanism has three main parts:

1. Program extension. It replaces prior crop-year references with 2031, keeping ARC available through the 2031 crop year.[1]

2. Higher guarantee. It inserts language setting the ARC guarantee at 90 percent of benchmark revenue for crop years 2025 through 2031.[1]

3. Higher payment limitation inside the formula. It changes the ARC payment cap from 10 percent of benchmark revenue for prior years to 12 percent of benchmark revenue for crop years 2025 through 2031.[1]

USDA implemented the OBBBA commodity title changes through Farm Service Agency rulemaking and guidance for ARC, PLC, and Dairy Margin Coverage programs.[4]

Expenditure Tracking and Reporting Protocol

Section 10305 affects federal financial flows because it changes the formula for mandatory commodity program payments. The relevant spending is likely to be tracked through USDA Farm Service Agency program records, Commodity Credit Corporation financing, Treasury outlay reporting, USDA budget execution materials, and CBO baseline or cost-estimate materials.

The likely administering agency is USDA’s Farm Service Agency, using Commodity Credit Corporation authority for commodity support payments.[3] Public visibility is likely to be partly clear and partly aggregated. ARC payment rates, benchmark data, and some program-year data are published by FSA, but Section 10305-specific spending may be difficult to isolate in public datasets because payments are made through the broader ARC and PLC program structure rather than a new separate account.[6]

flowchart TD
    A[Statutory ARC formula] --> B[USDA FSA implementation]
    B --> C[Farm records and base acres]
    C --> D{ARC pathway}
    D --> E[ARC CO county revenue]
    D --> F[ARC IC farm revenue]
    E --> G[Payment calculation]
    F --> G
    G --> H[CCC financing]
    H --> I[Treasury outlays]
    I --> J[USDA budget reporting]
    I --> K[FSA program data]
    I --> L[CBO baseline estimates]
    J --> M[Public visibility aggregated]
    K --> N[Public data by program year]
    L --> O[Oversight visibility]

Reporting is likely to work as follows:

Because Section 10305 changes formulas rather than creating a named grant, contract, or construction account, the most important tracking limitation is that public spending data may show ARC or commodity-program payments without cleanly separating the amount attributable only to the higher 90 percent guarantee and 12 percent payment cap.

Day-to-Day Government Process Changes

For USDA and FSA, Section 10305 changes the operating rules for ARC calculations through 2031. FSA must update software, forms, producer notices, county-office training, payment-rate calculations, benchmark revenue calculations, and producer-facing guidance to reflect the new ARC guarantee and payment cap.[4]

For county offices, the practical workload is likely to involve:

For producers, the change makes ARC elections more consequential because the program may trigger larger payments in low-revenue years. Producers comparing ARC-CO, ARC-IC, PLC, and crop insurance options will need to account for the stronger ARC formula.

Effects on Consumers

Section 10305 is not a consumer benefit program and does not directly change SNAP benefits, food labeling, grocery prices, or consumer eligibility rules. Its consumer impact is indirect.

The main consumer-facing theory is that farm safety-net payments can help stabilize farm income during downturns, which may reduce financial stress in commodity-producing regions. However, because ARC payments are tied to base acres and statutory formulas, any effect on retail food prices is likely to be indirect, delayed, and difficult to isolate. Retail food prices are shaped by many other factors, including processing, transportation, labor, energy, trade, and retailer margins.

Consumers may see no visible day-to-day change from Section 10305. The people most directly affected are producers of covered commodities and the lenders, landlords, suppliers, and rural businesses connected to those producers.

Effects on Businesses

Section 10305 primarily affects farm businesses with eligible base acres for covered commodities. A higher ARC guarantee and higher payment cap can improve downside revenue protection when actual county or farm revenue falls below benchmark levels.[4]

Potential business effects include:

The section may be especially relevant for farms deciding between ARC-CO and PLC on a covered-commodity basis, because a higher ARC guarantee changes the relative attractiveness of ARC in counties where revenue risk is more important than price-only risk.

Environmental and Climate Impact

Section 10305 does not create a conservation program, climate program, emissions standard, renewable energy incentive, or land-retirement requirement. Its environmental and climate effects are therefore indirect.

Because ARC payments are tied to base acres rather than directly to current production, the program is less directly production-inducing than a payment based solely on current planted acreage. However, stronger commodity support can still influence farm financial decisions, land tenure, and risk tolerance. In some cases, stronger safety-net support may help producers absorb climate-related revenue shocks from drought, flood, heat, or yield loss. In other cases, stronger commodity support can reinforce existing covered-commodity production systems rather than shifting land toward conservation or diversified crops.

Existing conservation compliance and acreage-reporting rules remain important because producers generally must satisfy applicable eligibility and compliance requirements to receive USDA commodity program benefits.[4]

Impact Summary

Section 10305 strengthens ARC as a federal farm safety-net program through 2031. It raises the ARC revenue guarantee to 90 percent of benchmark revenue and increases the payment cap to 12 percent of benchmark revenue for crop years 2025 through 2031.[1]

The section’s most direct beneficiaries are eligible producers with covered commodity base acres who face revenue declines sufficient to trigger ARC payments. Consumers are affected only indirectly, mainly through broader farm-income stabilization. Businesses connected to commodity agriculture may benefit from improved farm liquidity in downturn years. Environmental effects are indirect and mixed because the section changes income-support formulas rather than conservation requirements.

The key oversight issue is transparency: ARC program data are publicly available in several USDA and budget sources, but the incremental fiscal effect of Section 10305 may not be separately visible in ordinary public payment datasets.

Key References and Sourcing

[1] Congress.gov, “H.R. 1 — 119th Congress, Text,” Section 10305, Agriculture risk coverage, https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/1/text.

[2] Federal Register, “Changes to Agriculture Risk Coverage, Price Loss Coverage, and Dairy Margin Coverage Programs,” discussion of ARC payment calculations and the 90 percent guarantee and 12 percent cap, https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/01/12/2026-00313/changes-to-agriculture-risk-coverage-price-loss-coverage-and-dairy-margin-coverage-programs.

[3] USDA Farm Service Agency, “Agriculture Risk Coverage and Price Loss Coverage,” program overview, https://www.fsa.usda.gov/resources/income-support/arc-plc.

[4] Federal Register, “Changes to Agriculture Risk Coverage, Price Loss Coverage, and Dairy Margin Coverage Programs,” USDA implementation discussion for ARC and PLC elections, enrollment, deadlines, and payment calculations, https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/01/12/2026-00313/changes-to-agriculture-risk-coverage-price-loss-coverage-and-dairy-margin-coverage-programs.

[5] USDA Economic Research Service, “Title I: Crop Commodity Program Provisions,” discussion of ARC-CO, ARC-IC, and base acres, https://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/farm-economy/farm-commodity-policy/title-i-crop-commodity-program-provisions.

[6] USDA Farm Service Agency, “ARC and PLC Data,” public program-year data for ARC and PLC, https://www.fsa.usda.gov/resources/programs/arc-plc/program-data.

[7] Congressional Budget Office, “Estimated Budgetary Effects of Public Law 119-21, to Provide for Reconciliation Pursuant to Title II of H. Con. Res. 14, Relative to CBO’s January 2025 Baseline,” July 21, 2025, https://www.cbo.gov/publication/61570.

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Legislative and Policy Analysis

Section 10304: Price loss coverage

Executive Summary

Section 10304 extends the Price Loss Coverage program through the 2031 crop year by amending Section 1116 of the Agricultural Act of 2014.[1] It does not create a new standalone appropriation line or a separate grant program. Instead, it keeps an existing USDA Farm Service Agency commodity support program operating for additional crop years and updates related statutory cross-references and historical years used for a rice-specific reference price calculation.[1]

The practical effect is that eligible producers of covered commodities can continue to receive PLC payments when the effective price for a covered commodity falls below that commodity’s effective reference price.[2] Section 10304 works together with other commodity-title changes in the same legislation, including reference price changes, base acre changes, and producer election rules. Because of that interaction, the budgetary effect of PLC is not fully separable from the surrounding commodity provisions. Farmdoc analysis of the reconciliation agriculture provisions estimated that most of the additional farmer assistance would come through PLC payments, about $50.5 billion over fiscal years 2025 through 2034.[3]

What Section 10304 Actually Does

Section 10304 amends the existing PLC statute, 7 U.S.C. 9016, rather than creating a new program from scratch.[1] The main legal change is an extension: where prior statutory text referred to crop year 2023 or 2025 end points, Section 10304 substitutes 2031, keeping PLC authority available through the 2031 crop year.[1]

PLC is a counter-cyclical commodity program. USDA explains that PLC provides payments when the effective price for a covered commodity is below the effective reference price.[2] Under FSA’s implementing rule, the effective price is generally the higher of the national market year average price or the national average loan rate for the crop year.[4] PLC payments are based on base acres and PLC payment yields, not the producer’s current-year planted acreage or individual current yield.[4]

Section 10304 also updates the historical years used for a temperate japonica rice provision from 2012 through 2016 to 2017 through 2021.[1] FSA’s rule states that it will continue to establish separate reference prices for temperate japonica rice for high altitude or high latitude areas and updates the years used for that calculation to crop years 2017 through 2021.[4]

Legislative Mechanism

Section 10304 operates through targeted amendments to Section 1116 of the Agricultural Act of 2014.[1] Its mechanism is simple but financially significant:

1. Extend PLC payment authority through crop year 2031.
2. Extend related payment and election timeframes to match the 2031 crop year endpoint.
3. Update a rice-specific cross-reference and historical calculation period.
4. Leave the core PLC formula in place while allowing the broader bill’s reference price and base acre changes to affect payment exposure.

FSA’s 2026 implementing rule confirms that it is not changing the PLC payment calculation itself.[4] That means the day-to-day formula remains structurally familiar to producers and county offices: determine the applicable effective reference price, determine the effective price, calculate any payment rate, apply the farm’s PLC payment yield, apply payment acres, and issue payment after the marketing year.

Expenditure Tracking and Reporting Protocol

PLC is a federal financial flow because it produces mandatory commodity support payments to eligible agricultural producers. Section 10304 does not create a new public tracking mechanism or a section-specific account. Spending is therefore likely to be tracked through existing USDA Commodity Credit Corporation and Farm Service Agency budget execution systems, Treasury outlay reporting, FSA program data, USDA financial reporting, and congressional budget estimates.

The likely tracking pathway is:

Statutory PLC authority through crop year 2031
|
v
USDA Farm Service Agency implementation
|
v
Farm records, base acres, PLC yields, elections, and enrollment
|
v
Commodity price and effective reference price calculations
|
v
PLC payment rate determination
|
v
Commodity Credit Corporation and Treasury payment execution
|
v
USDA budget execution and financial reporting
|
v
FSA ARC and PLC data releases, CBO estimates, GAO or Inspector General oversight, and congressional review
|
v
Public visibility partly aggregated and delayed

The most direct public program data source is FSA’s ARC and PLC data page, which publishes payment rates, effective reference prices, reference prices, program yields, base acres by county, and related program-year files.[5] That data can show program parameters and some geographic program information, but it may not isolate the fiscal effect of Section 10304 alone because PLC costs are affected by reference prices, market prices, base acres, payment yields, producer elections, and payment eligibility rules.

Public tracking is likely to be delayed because PLC payments are made after the end of the marketing year. FSA’s implementing rule states that 2025 crop year PLC payments will be made after October 1, 2026, and 2026 crop year PLC payments after October 1, 2027.[4] Therefore, public datasets may show payments after crop-year decisions have already been made and after market year average prices are finalized.

Day-to-Day Government Process Changes

For USDA, the main operational change is continuity and extension. FSA county offices must keep administering PLC through crop year 2031, including election and enrollment processing, farm record maintenance, payment yield records, base acre records, producer eligibility checks, and payment calculations.[4]

For producers, the practical workflow remains familiar but extends for a longer period. Producers and landowners will continue working with FSA records, commodity elections, annual or multi-year enrollment, acreage reporting, and compliance requirements. FSA’s implementing rule emphasizes that election is not the same thing as enrollment: producers must enroll their share interest in covered commodity base acres to receive payments.[4]

For oversight staff, the change means more years of potential PLC exposure. CBO, USDA budget staff, FSA program managers, auditors, and congressional committees will need to monitor payment rates, participation, market price assumptions, base acre changes, and outlay timing.

Effects on Consumers

Section 10304 does not directly change grocery eligibility, SNAP benefits, consumer food prices, or retail food assistance. Its consumer effects are indirect.

PLC can help stabilize farm income for producers of covered commodities during low-price periods. That may support continuity of production in commodity crop regions. However, because PLC payments are paid to producers and are tied to historical base acres and payment yields, consumers should not expect a direct rebate, direct price reduction, or immediate grocery bill effect from this section.[4]

The broader distributional question is that PLC increases federal support for certain commodity producers when market prices fall. Consumers who are also taxpayers may bear part of the fiscal cost through the federal budget, while the direct payment benefit flows to eligible agricultural producers.

Effects on Businesses

The most direct business beneficiaries are farms and agricultural entities with eligible covered commodity base acres and valid PLC elections and enrollments. PLC can improve downside revenue protection when commodity prices fall below statutory support levels.[2]

Businesses in commodity supply chains may also see indirect effects. Grain elevators, input suppliers, lenders, crop consultants, and farm management advisers often incorporate ARC and PLC expectations into producer cash-flow planning. Because payments are generally delayed until after the marketing year, PLC is more likely to affect working capital and credit planning than day-of-sale pricing.[4]

The benefits are not evenly distributed across all agricultural businesses. Specialty crop producers, livestock-only operations, and farms without eligible covered commodity base acres generally do not receive PLC payments from this program. Farms with larger eligible base acres, higher payment yields, or commodities more likely to trigger PLC payments may receive larger benefits, subject to payment limitation and eligibility rules.

Environmental and Climate Impact

Section 10304 does not directly amend conservation compliance, climate programs, pesticide rules, water quality rules, or greenhouse gas standards. Its environmental impact is therefore indirect.

Because PLC payments are based on historical base acres rather than current production, the program is less directly production-coupled than a payment tied only to current planted acreage.[4] That design can reduce, but not eliminate, planting incentives. The broader commodity title may still influence land use by increasing the value of covered commodity base acres and by extending income support for covered commodity systems.

Potential indirect impacts include continued support for commodity crop production systems that may involve fertilizer use, irrigation demand, soil erosion risk, and monoculture patterns depending on region and management. At the same time, FSA regulations continue to require participants to satisfy general eligibility and land stewardship conditions, including maintaining land in accordance with sound agricultural practices and controlling noxious weeds.[4]

Impact Summary

Section 10304 is a continuation and extension provision for Price Loss Coverage. It keeps a major USDA commodity safety-net program available through crop year 2031 and updates related statutory details. Its fiscal importance comes from how that continuation interacts with the broader bill’s commodity changes, especially higher reference prices, base acre expansion, and producer election rules.

The section’s direct winners are eligible covered commodity producers who enroll in PLC and face qualifying price declines. Its public visibility will be real but imperfect: FSA publishes ARC and PLC data, CBO estimates budget effects, and USDA tracks payments through existing systems, but Section 10304-specific costs may be difficult to isolate from the broader commodity title.

Key References and Sourcing

[1] Senate Budget Committee, “The One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” Section 10304, bill text, https://www.budget.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/the_one_big_beautiful_bill_act.pdf.

[2] USDA Farm Service Agency, “Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) & Price Loss Coverage (PLC),” official program overview, https://www.fsa.usda.gov/resources/income-support/arc-plc.

[3] farmdoc daily, “Farm Bill in Reconciliation: ARC/PLC Payment Projections — Policy Design Lab Update,” PLC payment projection and broader agriculture-title budget discussion, https://farmdocdaily.illinois.edu/2025/07/farm-bill-in-reconciliation-arc-plc-payment-projections-policy-design-lab-update.html.

[4] Federal Register, “Changes to Agriculture Risk Coverage, Price Loss Coverage, and Dairy Margin Coverage Programs,” USDA Commodity Credit Corporation and Farm Service Agency implementing rule, https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/01/12/2026-00313/changes-to-agriculture-risk-coverage-price-loss-coverage-and-dairy-margin-coverage-programs.

[5] USDA Farm Service Agency, “ARC and PLC Data,” official program data page for payment rates, effective reference prices, reference prices, yields, and base acre files, https://www.fsa.usda.gov/resources/programs/arc-plc/program-data.

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Legislative and Policy Analysis

Section 10303: Producer election

Executive Summary

Section 10303 changes how producers interact with the Agriculture Risk Coverage and Price Loss Coverage commodity safety-net programs for covered commodities. For the 2025 crop year, USDA must automatically pay producers the higher of the Price Loss Coverage payment or the Agriculture Risk Coverage county payment on a covered-commodity-by-covered-commodity basis, rather than requiring the producer’s prior election to control the payment outcome.[1]

For crop years 2026 through 2031, the section extends the producer election framework and requires producers to make coverage elections for covered commodities. If producers on a farm fail to make a valid unanimous election for the 2026 crop year, they receive no payment for the 2026 crop year and then default into the same coverage for 2027 through 2031 that applied for the 2025 crop year.[1]

The section also changes the interaction between ARC elections and the Federal Crop Insurance Supplemental Coverage Option. It removes the statutory language that had made certain acres ineligible for SCO because the producer elected ARC, allowing producers to use SCO regardless of ARC election status once USDA Risk Management Agency implementation applies.[1][2]

Section 10303 does not itself state a stand-alone appropriation, authorization level, grant amount, loan amount, credit authority, or tax expenditure amount. Its fiscal effect operates through existing USDA commodity payment and crop insurance systems. Public tracking will therefore be indirect: ARC and PLC payments will be visible through Farm Service Agency program data and USDA budget execution, while SCO changes will flow through Risk Management Agency crop insurance reporting and premium subsidy systems.[2][3]

What Section 10303 Actually Does

Section 10303 amends Section 1115 of the Agricultural Act of 2014, which governs producer election among ARC and PLC options, and Section 508 of the Federal Crop Insurance Act, which governs aspects of the Supplemental Coverage Option.[1]

The section does four practical things:

The 2025 automatic “higher of” rule is the most immediate producer-facing change. USDA’s 2025 ARC and PLC fact sheet states that payments for PLC, ARC-CO, and ARC-IC, if triggered for the 2025 program year, will be issued after October 1, 2026, and that for 2025 only the higher of PLC or ARC-CO will be issued regardless of program election, while ARC-IC remains separate.[3]

The section also changes risk-management planning. Before implementation of this change, USDA materials stated that producers who elected ARC were ineligible for SCO on their planted acres.[3] RMA later implemented Section 10303(b) by stating that insureds can now purchase SCO regardless of their ARC elections with FSA and no longer need to report acreage for their SCO policy under which ARC is elected.[2]

Section 10303 does not create a new public benefit program separate from ARC, PLC, or crop insurance. Instead, it changes the election rules, default consequences, and program interaction rules inside already-existing USDA systems.

Legislative Mechanism

Section 10303 uses targeted statutory amendments rather than a new program authorization.

First, it amends the Agricultural Act of 2014 by replacing the prior terminal crop year with 2031 in the producer election provision.[1] That ties the election system to the broader extension of commodity programs through 2031.

Second, it modifies the consequences of failing to make a valid election. For the 2026 crop year, failure to make the required election results in no ARC or PLC payment for that year. For crop years 2027 through 2031, the farm receives the same coverage for each covered commodity that applied for the 2025 crop year.[1]

Third, it creates a special 2025 payment rule. For 2025 only, USDA must make the higher of the PLC payment or ARC-CO payment for each covered commodity on a farm.[1] This is not a producer election in the usual sense; it is an automatic statutory comparison performed by USDA.

Fourth, it amends the Federal Crop Insurance Act by removing language that tied SCO ineligibility to ARC elections.[1] RMA implementation confirms that this change allows SCO purchase regardless of ARC election status, with policy revisions and notices distributed through approved insurance providers.[2]

Expenditure Tracking and Reporting Protocol

Section 10303 involves federal financial flows, but it does not provide a discrete dollar appropriation. The spending will be tracked through existing USDA commodity program and crop insurance channels.

For ARC and PLC, the likely administering agency is USDA Farm Service Agency. FSA administers ARC and PLC and describes them as financial assistance programs for agricultural producers, with ARC payments triggered by revenue shortfalls and PLC payments triggered when effective prices fall below effective reference prices.[4] Payments are tied to covered commodity base acres and producer enrollment records, and USDA publishes ARC and PLC program data, including payment rates, reference prices, and program-year-specific data.[5]

For SCO, the likely administering agency is USDA Risk Management Agency and the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation framework. RMA’s implementation bulletin for the OBBBA states that Section 10303(b) is being implemented through crop insurance policy revisions and that Approved Insurance Providers must distribute the relevant amendment to affected insureds.[2]

Public visibility will be mixed. ARC and PLC payment rates and program data may be visible through FSA program data, USDA budget materials, and aggregate outlay reporting. Individual payment-level visibility may also appear in farm program payment databases or public records where disclosure rules allow. SCO effects are more likely to be visible through RMA crop insurance data, premium subsidy reporting, and aggregate crop insurance program cost data. Section-specific isolation will be difficult because Section 10303’s fiscal effects are merged into broader ARC, PLC, and crop insurance accounts rather than reported as a separate line item.

flowchart TD
    A[Statutory rule] --> B[USDA FSA and RMA implementation]

    B --> C[ARC and PLC payment pathway]
    C --> D[FSA farm records and elections]
    D --> E[Payment calculation for covered commodities]
    E --> F[Treasury disbursement and USDA budget execution]
    F --> G[FSA program data and oversight reporting]

    B --> H[SCO crop insurance pathway]
    H --> I[RMA policy revisions]
    I --> J[Approved Insurance Providers notify insureds]
    J --> K[Premium and subsidy administration]
    K --> L[RMA crop insurance data and oversight reporting]

The reporting protocol is likely to work as follows:

The main limitation is attribution. A producer may receive a 2025 payment because the higher-of rule changed the payment outcome, but public datasets may not separately label that marginal amount as “Section 10303.” Similarly, SCO participation may increase because ARC participants are newly able to buy SCO, but the resulting premium subsidy cost may be blended into broader crop insurance subsidy data.

Day-to-Day Government Process Changes

For FSA offices, Section 10303 changes both producer counseling and payment administration.

For the 2025 crop year, FSA must administer an automatic comparison between PLC and ARC-CO payment results for each covered commodity and issue the higher payment where triggered.[1] This reduces the importance of the producer’s prior election for 2025 payments, but it increases USDA’s calculation and communication burden because producers will need to understand why the statutory higher-of payment differs from the election they made before enactment.

For 2026, FSA must prepare producers for a new election cycle. USDA’s ARC and PLC page states that after the base allocation process is completed, election and enrollment for ARC and PLC will be announced for program year 2026.[4] That means FSA county offices will need to coordinate base acre updates, producer notices, election forms, enrollment contracts, and outreach before payments can be determined.

For producers, the day-to-day change is that the 2026 election becomes more consequential. A failure by all producers with an interest in the covered commodity to make a valid unanimous election can mean no payment for the 2026 crop year.[1] That makes communication among landlords, tenants, sharecroppers, and other interest holders more important.

For RMA and crop insurance agents, the change is the decoupling of SCO access from ARC election status. RMA states that insureds can now purchase SCO regardless of ARC elections with FSA and no longer need to report acreage for their SCO policy under which ARC is elected.[2] That simplifies one prior eligibility interaction, though producers still need to coordinate commodity program choices with crop insurance coverage choices.

Effects on Consumers

The consumer impact is indirect.

Section 10303 does not create a consumer rebate, food price control, nutrition benefit, or retail market rule. Its primary beneficiaries are producers of covered commodities who participate in ARC, PLC, and crop insurance-linked risk management.

Consumers may experience only secondary effects. By increasing certainty and flexibility in producer risk management, the section may help stabilize farm income during periods of low prices or revenue shortfalls. USDA describes ARC and PLC as programs that help protect farmers from significant income losses due to crop price fluctuations or revenue shortfalls.[4] However, the connection between commodity program payments and grocery prices is indirect and usually diluted by processing, transportation, retail, trade, energy, labor, and market conditions.

The most likely consumer-facing effect is therefore not a visible price reduction. It is a policy choice to maintain or expand producer income support as part of the federal farm safety net.

Effects on Businesses

The clearest business effects fall on farms, crop insurance agents, approved insurance providers, lenders, and agricultural advisers.

For farms, the 2025 higher-of rule improves downside protection by allowing eligible producers to receive whichever of PLC or ARC-CO produces the better payment for each covered commodity.[1] That may improve cash-flow planning for payments issued after October 1, 2026.[3]

For farms with multiple owners or operators, the 2026 election rule raises the cost of inaction or disagreement. A missed or invalid election can eliminate 2026 payments and lock later years into the 2025 coverage default.[1] That makes recordkeeping, lease coordination, and communication with FSA more important.

For crop insurance businesses, Section 10303(b) broadens the potential SCO customer base by allowing SCO purchases regardless of ARC elections.[2] Approved Insurance Providers must distribute implementation amendments to affected insureds under RMA’s bulletin, which creates compliance and customer-service work for insurers and agents.[2]

For lenders and farm financial advisers, the section changes payment expectations. The 2025 higher-of rule may increase expected government payment income for some operations, while the 2026 election requirement creates a compliance risk that advisers may need to monitor.

Environmental and Climate Impact

Section 10303 has no direct conservation requirement, emissions standard, land retirement incentive, climate-smart agriculture condition, or environmental review trigger. It is a commodity program election and crop insurance interaction provision.

The environmental impact is therefore indirect and ambiguous. ARC and PLC payments are generally tied to base acres rather than requiring current planting of the covered commodity. USDA’s ARC and PLC fact sheet states that PLC payments are not dependent on planting a covered commodity or the applicable base crop, and ARC-CO payments are also not dependent on planting the covered commodity or applicable base crop.[3] That structure reduces the direct incentive to plant a specific covered commodity solely to receive ARC or PLC payments.

The SCO change could affect production risk decisions because more producers may combine ARC participation with SCO coverage. Greater risk protection can help farms withstand weather and price shocks, but it can also reduce some financial consequences of production in riskier areas. Whether that produces measurable environmental effects depends on local crop choices, land quality, irrigation, insurance participation, and conservation compliance rules outside Section 10303.

Overall, Section 10303 is best understood as a farm income and risk-management rule, not an environmental policy section.

Impact Summary

Section 10303 gives producers a one-year automatic best-of-both-worlds treatment between PLC and ARC-CO for the 2025 crop year, then requires renewed producer election decisions for 2026 through 2031. It also removes a major statutory barrier between ARC participation and SCO crop insurance coverage.

The section’s benefits are concentrated among covered commodity producers and related agricultural businesses. Its risks are administrative complexity, public tracking opacity, and the possibility that producers who fail to make a valid 2026 election lose payments for that crop year.

The fiscal effect is real but not separately appropriated in the section. It will appear through broader USDA commodity payment and crop insurance accounts, making section-specific public tracking difficult without USDA or congressional analysis that isolates the marginal effect of the election and SCO interaction changes.

Key References and Sourcing

[1] U.S. Government Publishing Office, “Public Law 119-21, One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” Section 10303, https://www.govinfo.gov/link/plaw/119/public/21.

[2] USDA Risk Management Agency, “MGR-25-006: One Big Beautiful Bill Act Amendment,” implementation of Section 10303(b) and crop insurance policy changes, MGR-25-006: One Big Beautiful Bill Act Amendment | Risk Management Agency.

[3] USDA Farm Service Agency, “Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) & Price Loss Coverage (PLC),” September 2025 fact sheet, payment timing, higher-of rule, SCO interaction, and payment formulas, https://www.fsa.usda.gov/sites/default/files/2025-09/FSA_ARC%20%26%20PLC_3pg_Fact%20Sheet-SEPT%202025_final.pdf.

[4] USDA Farm Service Agency, “Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) & Price Loss Coverage (PLC),” program description, eligibility, covered commodities, and 2026 election timing, Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) & Price Loss Coverage (PLC) | Farm Service Agency.

[5] USDA Farm Service Agency, “ARC and PLC Data,” public program data for payment rates, reference prices, and program-year-specific data, ARC and PLC Data | Farm Service Agency.

[6] Iowa State University Center for Agricultural Law and Taxation, “Reviewing the Agricultural Provisions in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” summary of Section 10303 producer election rules and SCO eligibility changes, Reviewing the Agricultural Provisions in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act | Center for Agricultural Law and Taxation.

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