Spring crop insurance prices were finalized by USDA’s Risk Management Agency this week, at $4.62 per bushel for corn and $11.09 per bushel for soybeans. “Volatility Factors” for 2026 were also released at 0.15 for corn and 0.13 for soybeans, both down slightly from 2025 levels.
Compared to 2025, corn spring prices declined slightly from $4.70 per bushel (down 1.7%) while soybean spring prices increased from $10.54 per bushel (up 5.2%).
According to University of Illinois ag economists, the Projected Prices and Volatility Factors, combined with higher premium subsidy rates, should result in lower farmer premium costs for most policies and coverage levels in 2026 compared to 2025.
Projected Prices for corn and soybeans are determined each year during the month of February for most U.S. counties that grow corn and soybeans, using new crop contract settlement prices for December corn and November soybeans — often referred to as the “harvest contracts” for both crops — averaged across all active trading days.
“Projected prices have a direct impact on the guarantees that producers can receive and the premiums that they pay for federal crop insurance policies,” the economists reported in a farmdoc report released today. “Volatility Factors are a measure of the potential variability in prices that could occur during the insurance period.”
The volatility factors, measured and averaged over the final five trading days of February, correlate with predicted market volatility. Higher factors represent higher potential price deviations, lower factors represent smaller potential price deviations from what the market currently expects.
With the crop insurance spring prices now released, American Farm Bureau Federation Economist Faith Parum said farmers can make decisions on revenue protection policies that insure a percentage of expected revenue based on projected prices and expected yields. “Policies with the harvest price option use the higher of the spring or harvest price when calculating guarantees, providing protection against both yield and price risk.”
Parum also noted that farmers have a stronger safety net this year, thanks in part to updates in last year’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) and other risk management tools like the Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC) programs.
“ARC county prices this year will be set at $5.03 for corn, $12.17 for soybeans, and $6.98 for wheat, and there's also PLC which is set by the breakeven price,” Parum said. “And so, these will provide a great and strong safety net for our farmers across the country.”
While OBBBA provisions allow farmers to automatically receive the higher payment between ARC and PLC for the 2025 crop year, farmers are still facing a March 15 deadline for crop insurance enrollment.
Under OBBBA, premium support for both Supplemental Coverage Option (SCO) and Enhanced Coverage Option (ECO) crop insurance policies were increased from 65% to 80% while maximum coverage levels for area-based insurance plans were also increased to 95%.
Another significant change for 2026 — SCO and ECO coverage is an option for producers regardless of whether they’re enrolled in ARC or PLC farm programs.
“Together, these changes provide producers with greater flexibility to stack individual and area-based coverage and tailor risk management strategies amid continued market volatility and elevated production costs," Parum wrote.
ARC benchmark prices are based on moving averages of historical market prices and yields and are designed to provide support during periods of revenue declines. Estimated 2026 ARC benchmark prices are approximately $5.03 per bushel for corn, $12.17 per bushel for soybeans and $6.98 per bushel for wheat. These benchmark prices are unchanged from 2025.
Meanwhile, PLC provides price-based support when the national marketing year average (MYA) price for a covered commodity falls below its effective reference price. PLC is triggered by price outcomes rather than yield outcomes, and payments are calculated using historical base acres and the farm’s PLC program yield.
“Effective reference prices are based on statutory reference prices and an escalation formula tied to a moving average of recent MYA prices, with the effective reference price capped at 115% of the statutory reference price,” Parum wrote.
Estimated effective reference prices for the 2026-27 crop year are approximately $4.42 per bushel for corn, $10.71 per bushel for soybeans and $6.35 per bushel for wheat. These levels are unchanged from 2025.
“Together, crop insurance and either ARC or PLC provide layers of protection against risk,” Parum concluded.
“Crop insurance provides both area-based and farm-level protection during the growing season, while ARC and PLC provide additional support based on county revenue outcomes or national price conditions.”
Source - https://www.michiganfarmnews.com
