By Faith Parum
Following the February price discovery period, USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA) has finalized spring crop insurance prices for the 2026 crop year, establishing the revenue guarantees farmers will use to manage risk. Projected prices reflect current market supply and demand expectations and provide an important opportunity to protect against further price or revenue declines. Risk management and marketing strategies are critically important when input costs are high.
This Market Intel reviews farm bill-related risk management tools for corn, soybeans and wheat for the 2026 crop year, including crop insurance as well as Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC) programs. While for the 2025 crop year, provisions in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act allow farmers to automatically receive the higher payment between ARC and PLC, for crop year 2026, farmers will still be required to make an election between the two programs.
Risk Management Coverage for 2026
Several key price benchmarks help frame the financial outlook for farmers heading into the 2026 growing season, including spring prices for crop insurance, estimated break-even levels and farm program benchmarks.
USDA’s Agricultural Outlook Forum (AOF) projects 2026 marketing year average prices of $4.20 per bushel for corn, $10.30 per bushel for soybeans and $5 per bushel for wheat. In comparison, estimated national average break-even prices, the price needed to cover total production costs, i.e., variable and fixed production expenses, are approximately $5 per bushel for corn, $12.27 per bushel for soybeans and $7.96 per bushel for wheat.
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