Email received on Oct. 1, 2026
Good afternoon,
I wanted to share a quick update on the reference price increases and base acre update including in Working Families Tax Cuts, which became law last summer.
Base Acres: As you know, Working Families Tax Cuts included a one-time voluntary base acre update, up to 30 million new acres. On September 15, 2026, USDA released the totals for new base acre enrollment. Eligible acres exceeded the nationwide cap, and USDA is applying an across-the-board, prorated reduction of 3.69 percent to all newly allocated base acres. Sen. Thune introduced an amendment, which is included in the Senate committee passed farm bill, to increase the cap to cover this proration, ensuring growers can enroll all acres. South Dakota received 2,164,759 new acres in the allocation, second only to North Dakota.
Reference Price Updates: Working Families Tax Cuts also included increases to all statutory reference prices, seen below. Based on USDA estimates today from these increases, South Dakota farmers will receive more than $463 million in ARC and PLC payments. For reference, South Dakota payments would have been an estimated $206 million without the passage of Working Families Tax Cuts.
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WFTC Reference Prices
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| Commodity
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2024 Reference Prices ($)
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WFTC Reference Prices ($)
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Increase
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| Wheat (bushel)
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5.50
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6.35
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15.45%
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| Corn per (bushel)
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3.70
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4.10
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10.81%
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| Grain Sorghum (bushel)
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3.95
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4.40
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11.39%
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| Barley (bushel)
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4.95
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5.45
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10.10%
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| Oats (bushel)
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2.40
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2.65
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10.42%
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| Soybeans (bushel)
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8.40
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10.00
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19.05%
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| Other Oilseeds (hundredweight)
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20.15
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23.75
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17.87%
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| Dry Peas (hundredweight)
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11.00
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13.10
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19.09%
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| Lentils (hundredweight)
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19.97
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23.75
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18.93%
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As always, let me know what questions I can answer for you!
Ashlynne
Ashlynne Beninga
Legislative Assistant | Office of U.S. Senator John Thune
511 Dirksen Senate Office Building | Washington, DC 20510
Office: (202) 224-2321 | Fax: (202) 228-5429