---
title: "Tennessee Farmers Line Up for $212 Million in USDA Payments"
url: https://www.hereknoxville.com/2026/10/20/tennessee-farmers-212-million-usda-farm-safety-net-payments/
date: 2026-10-20T09:08:47-04:00
modified: 2026-10-20T09:08:47-04:00
author: "HERE City State Desk"
categories: ["Business"]
site: "HEREKnoxville"
attribution: "HEREKnoxville"
---

# Tennessee Farmers Line Up for $212 Million in USDA Payments

> NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Roughly $212.2 million in federal farm support is headed to Tennessee growers, ranchers and landowners, the state office of the USDA Farm Service Agency announced Monday. The money comes from two pots. Most of it flows through Agriculture Risk Coverage and Price Loss Coverage, the commodity programs that pay out when crop

*Source: [HEREKnoxville](https://www.hereknoxville.com/2026/10/20/tennessee-farmers-212-million-usda-farm-safety-net-payments/) — October 20, 2026 by HERE City State Desk*

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Roughly $212.2 million in federal farm support is headed to Tennessee growers, ranchers and landowners, the state office of the USDA Farm Service Agency announced Monday.

The money comes from two pots. Most of it flows through Agriculture Risk Coverage and Price Loss Coverage, the commodity programs that pay out when crop prices or revenues sag, for the 2025 crop year. The rest is 2026 rent paid under the Conservation Reserve Program to landowners who keep ground in protective grass or other long-term cover.

Eleven Tennessee crops hit the price trigger for 2025: barley, canola, corn, grain sorghum, oats, peanuts, long-grain rice, seed cotton, soybeans, sunflower seed and wheat. For that crop year only, every enrolled producer automatically gets whichever of the two programs pays more, no matter which one the farm picked.

Checks will be trimmed before they arrive. The agency said the totals do not reflect payment-limit reductions or the 5.7% sequestration cut that federal law applies to every ARC and PLC payment, and county offices will release money as each calculation is finished.

The bigger numbers trace back to the Working Families Tax Cuts Act, the law many people call the One Big Beautiful Bill, which took effect on July 4, 2025. It raised reference prices and lifted the per-person payment cap from $125,000 to $155,000 with inflation adjustments, putting the 2025 limit at $160,000. It also added 30 million base acres nationwide, and Tennessee farms picked up 637,674 of them after a 3.69% across-the-board proration.

On the conservation side, the payments cover 77,552 acres under active contracts in Tennessee, including 5,269 acres of grassland that can still be grazed or hayed.

Nationally, the agency counts $13.8 billion in gross ARC and PLC payments and another $1.8 billion in conservation rent.

Sign-up for the 2026 crop year is open through Dec. 11, and the 2027 window runs from Nov. 2 through March 15, 2027. Producers must sign a contract every year, though they can now lock in a multi-year contract covering 2026 through 2031. Landowners without a share in the crops on a farm cannot enroll. Questions go to local FSA county offices.