2025 Corn ARC-CO vs. PLC: Fifteen More States, Coast to Coast
We do the last corn states with spreadsheets
The map keeps filling in. This batch rounds out corn for fifteen more states — Kentucky, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and down through Arkansas, Mississippi, Louisiana, and the Carolinas, plus the southern plains, Montana, and the Pacific Northwest — every county, on the attached spreadsheets. Same engine you’ve seen all along: official FSA benchmark yields, harvested RMA 2025 yields, a $5.03 benchmark price, a $4.15 projected MYA, the $0.27 corn PLC rate, a 90% guarantee and 12% cap, paid on 85% of base. And 2025 pays the higher of the two automatically — no election.
One note on method, since it matters in the irrigated states: where a county reports both dryland and irrigated corn, I’ve matched the FSA benchmark to the practice behind the harvested yield, so an irrigated yield is measured against an irrigated benchmark rather than a dryland one. That keeps the comparison honest in places like the Delta and the West.
The eastern rain-fed states are a big ARC-CO year. This is the clearest story in the batch. Across Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi, Pennsylvania, and Maryland, 2025 yields came in well under benchmark, and that shortfall on top of the price drop lights ARC-CO up. Kentucky averages about $77 an acre against PLC’s $33 and is the bigger check in 85 of 102 counties — Mercer, Warren, and Wayne all run $110 or better. Tennessee is right behind at $75 against $31, with Lawrence and Loudon over $100. Pennsylvania averages $63 (Blair and Berks near $90), Arkansas $67 (Craighead $108), Maryland $52 (Kent all the way up at $119), and Mississippi $47. If you have corn base in this region, ARC-CO is carrying the year.
The Carolinas and Louisiana are closer, but Louisiana leans ARC. North Carolina lands at ARC $29 against PLC $25 — the bigger check in 46 of 100 counties, with the mountains (Cherokee) and the coastal plain (Wilson) paying best where yields slipped. Louisiana comes in stronger at $44 against $28, the bigger payment in 21 of 35 parishes; the irrigated river parishes lead, with Pointe Coupee at $104 and West Carroll and West Baton Rouge in the mid-$90s.
The southern plains split. Texas is the one clear PLC-leaning state in the group: ARC averages about $19 against PLC’s $21, because even though dryland yields fell hard, the low benchmark yields hold ARC’s ceiling down. The exceptions are the high plains and a few irrigated counties — Randall runs $96, Briscoe and Frio in the low $80s. Oklahoma tips the other way at $30 against $20, with drought-hit counties like Caddo (56 bushels against a 154 benchmark) paying $79. New Mexico, almost entirely irrigated, averages $44 against $30, with Quay at $106.
Montana and the Pacific Northwest pay the most per acre. Where corn is irrigated and benchmarks run high, even a modest yield dip produces a large ARC-CO number. Washington averages about $87 an acre against PLC’s $44 — Yakima, Klickitat, and King all run past $120. Oregon’s three grain counties average $84 (Malheur $121), and Montana comes in at $42 against $31, the bigger check in 13 of 23 counties, with Yellowstone, Dawson, and Musselshell near $100. Idaho is the outlier — it tilts slightly to PLC statewide ($31 against $37) even though its top counties like Washington County pay $121, because a good irrigated crop kept ARC at zero across a lot of the state.
A few things to keep in mind. The benchmark yields are the official FSA figures, and the 2025 yield is the real harvested RMA number, so these should track close — though FSA uses its own projected yield, so the final figures will move a little. The PLC yields in these files are just an estimate at 80% of benchmark, so plug in your own PLC yield on the Your Fields tab to get the real amount for your farm or field. The $4.15 MYA is a projection that moves with each WASDE.
Bottom line: for 2025 corn, the eastern rain-fed belt from Pennsylvania down through the Mid-South is a strong ARC-CO year, the Carolinas are close calls, Texas leans to the PLC floor, and the irrigated West — from Montana out to the Northwest — pays the biggest per-acre checks where yields dipped. Pull up your county on the Your Fields tab, drop in your PLC yield and acres, and check both programs side by side — and if your state still isn’t here, let me know.
Here are the spreadsheets (for paid subscribers only):
