USDA Announces Record $13.8 Billion in Farm Safety Net Payments: What It Means
The Morning Harvest, No. 002, Thursday, October 8, 2026
Today in 30 seconds
USDA says ARC and PLC farm programs will pay about $13.8 billion for the 2025 crop year, the most since they began in 2014.
Eden Brothers recalled Calabrese broccoli seeds on October 7 for possible Salmonella. Do not sprout, plant, or eat them.
Strawberries leave California at about $1.00 to $1.25 a pound and average $3.07 a pound in store ads.
Honeycrisp apples ($2.00 a pound), Bartlett pears ($1.79), and butternut squash ($1.06) are in season.
Blueberries need soil pH 4.5 to 5.5. Test now, and a mature bush can give 9 to 15 pounds a year.
New Jersey's cranberry crop is forecast at 610,000 barrels, up 36 percent from 2025.
What is the $13.8 billion USDA farm payment?
On October 7, 2026, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins announced that two Farm Service Agency programs will generate about $13.8 billion in gross payments for the 2025 crop year. USDA calls it the largest annual payout since the programs were created in the 2014 Farm Bill.
The programs are Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC). PLC pays when a crop's national average price for the marketing year falls below a reference price set in law. ARC pays when a county's crop revenue falls below a guarantee. The federal law signed July 4, 2025 raised the reference prices. Corn went from $3.70 to $4.10 a bushel, soybeans from $8.40 to $10.00, and wheat from $5.50 to $6.35, according to University of Illinois farmdoc daily.
16 crops triggered a PLC payment for the 2025 crop year:
Grains and oilseeds: corn, soybeans, wheat, grain sorghum, canola, flaxseed, safflower
Rice: long grain, medium grain, and japonica
Pulses: dry peas, lentils, small chickpeas, large chickpeas
Other: peanuts, seed cotton
The 2025 payment limit is $160,000, up from $125,000.
The $13.8 billion is before payment limits and a 5.7 percent sequestration reduction, an automatic federal budget cut.
The law added 30 million new base acres, with a 3.69 percent prorated reduction because requests exceeded the cap.
What it means: these payments follow base acres, a farm's recorded planting history, so they matter to anyone who owns or buys cropland. No fresh fruits or vegetables are on the list. Produce growers rely on other tools.
Source: USDA press release, October 7, 2026. Reference prices: farmdoc daily, July 15, 2025.
Which broccoli seeds are recalled for Salmonella?
Eden Brothers LLC of Arden, North Carolina recalled its Calabrese broccoli seeds on October 7, 2026 after its supplier said the seeds may be contaminated with Salmonella. Salmonella is a bacteria that can cause fever, diarrhea, and stomach pain, and serious illness in young children, older adults, and people with weak immune systems.
Products: Broccoli Seeds, Calabrese, in packets (item SVBRO111-qb1), 1 ounce (SVBRO111-qb2), and 1 pound (SVBRO111-qb4).
Lot numbers: 1022067 and 1022068 (supplier lot W4105), printed on the packet or bag.
Sold: July 8 through September 28, 2026 at EdenBrothers.com and Amazon.com, shipped nationwide.
Illnesses: the company says none have been reported to date.
Food Safety News reported on October 8 that 32 people in six states (Idaho, Minnesota, Montana, Oregon, Utah, and Washington) have been confirmed sick, with three hospitalized. The outbreak is linked to broccoli sprouts and microgreens grown from a contaminated seed lot. EAK Distribution recalled Home Grown brand sprouting broccoli seeds from the same supplier lot on October 2.
What to do: do not plant, sprout, eat, or share the seeds. Seal them in a bag and put them in the household trash, not the compost. Wash your hands and anything the seeds touched. For a refund, call Eden Brothers at 855-440-2929, Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern.
Source: FDA recall notice, October 7, 2026. Outbreak figures: Food Safety News, October 8, 2026.
Why do strawberries cost $3 a pound at the store?
The shipping point price is what a buyer pays the grower-shipper at the cooler, before trucking. In the USDA National FOB Review dated October 6, 2026, strawberries from Salinas and Watsonville, California were $6.00 to $12.00 per flat, mostly $8.00 to $10.00. A flat is eight 1 pound containers, so that is about $1.00 to $1.25 a pound. Oxnard and Santa Maria were $8.00 to $12.00 per flat. Organic flats were $12.00 to $16.00.
At retail, the USDA weekly feature report dated October 2, 2026 shows a weighted average advertised price of $3.07 for a 1 pound package across 3,348 store ads. That equals about $24.56 per flat. It was $2.65 the week before (up about 16 percent) and $2.85 a year ago.
The gap pays for refrigerated trucking, the warehouse, the store's labor and overhead, and fruit that spoils before it sells. The season also matters. USDA described demand as light, the market as about steady, and quality and condition as a wide range, with a few berries being diverted to the freezer or processor. That is what the end of a long California season looks like. For shoppers: check the bottom of the container, and eat them soon.
Sources: USDA AMS National FOB Review, October 6, 2026. USDA AMS weekly retail feature report, October 2, 2026.
What fruits and vegetables are in season in October?
Prices below are weighted average advertised prices from the USDA retail report dated October 2, 2026.
Honeycrisp apples: $2.00 a pound. That is up from $1.88 last week and close to $2.06 a year ago. Washington is the largest shipper, with a USDA forecast of about 176.2 million bushels, and Michigan, New York, and the Appalachian states are shipping new crop too. Tip: University of Minnesota Extension says apples last longest at 33 to 38 degrees, and near 33 degrees can keep up to 10 times longer than at room temperature. Use a perforated bag in the refrigerator.
Bartlett pears: $1.79 a pound. That is up from $1.73 last week and up 17 percent from $1.53 a year ago. Oregon and Washington grow 88 percent of the nation's fresh pears, according to USA Pears. Tip: pears ripen off the tree. Leave them on the counter and press gently near the stem. When the neck gives, it is ripe.
Butternut squash: $1.06 a pound. That is down from $1.15 last week and up from $0.98 a year ago. Tip: University of Maine Extension says to store hard-shelled squash at 50 to 55 degrees, since it breaks down quickly below 50.
All three can be grown at home in much of the country.
Sources: USDA retail report, The Packer, August 2026, University of Minnesota Extension, USA Pears, University of Maine Extension.
How do you grow blueberries at home?
Blueberries succeed or fail on soil, and fall is when you fix it. Oregon State University Extension (EC 1304, revised May 2025) says blueberries require a soil pH of 4.5 to 5.5. Test your soil this month. If the pH is too high, NC State Extension says to apply sulfur at least three to four months before planting, then retest.
Sun: full sun is best. Yield drops as shade increases.
Spacing: 3 to 5 feet for highbush types and 5 to 6 feet for rabbiteye, in rows 8 to 12 feet apart.
Which type: northern highbush for cold winter regions (USDA zones 4 to 8), rabbiteye for the South, where it handles heat and drought better, and southern highbush in between.
Pollination: plant at least two varieties of the same type.
First years: remove the flowers in the planting year so the plant builds roots.
Yield (Oregon State, northern highbush): 2 to 4 pounds per plant in year three, 9 to 15 pounds at maturity after year seven. By that math, four mature plants could give 36 to 60 pounds a year.
Plants can produce for more than 50 years. If you would rather stop mowing grass and start growing fruit, see how we design and install berry plantings at curatednature.co/backyard-fruit-profits.
Sources: Oregon State University Extension EC 1304, NC State Extension, University of Georgia Extension C 946.
How big is New Jersey's cranberry harvest this year?
Garden State minute. October is cranberry harvest in the Pine Barrens of southern New Jersey, centered on Burlington County. USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service forecast the 2026 New Jersey crop at 610,000 barrels in its August 12, 2026 Crop Production report. A barrel is 100 pounds. That is up 36 percent from 449,000 barrels in 2025. It would put New Jersey third in the nation, ahead of Oregon (560,000) and behind Wisconsin (4.8 million) and Massachusetts (1.9 million).
2025 New Jersey acres harvested: 2,800
2025 yield: 160.2 barrels per acre, down from 202.6 in 2024
2025 average price: $36.60 per barrel, about 37 cents a pound
2025 value of utilized production: $16.4 million, at that $36.60 per barrel
How it works: growers flood the bogs, a water reel machine knocks the berries off the vines, and the floating fruit is corralled to a conveyor and trucked to a sorting house. New Jersey's Pinelands Commission dates the state's cranberry farming to 1835, at a bog near Burrs Mills in Burlington County.
Why it matters outside New Jersey: a 12 ounce bag of fresh cranberries averaged $3.09 in store ads this week, while the farm price across all uses was about 37 cents a pound. Most of the price of food is added after the farm.
Sources: USDA NASS Crop Production, August 12, 2026, USDA NASS Noncitrus Fruits and Nuts 2025 Summary, May 2026, New Jersey Pinelands Commission.
From the farm
Yesterday on the farm I learned that the radiator on our well pump was leaking. I immediately called john deere for a replacement, they quoted me $3,000.00 .So I went on to ebay.com and found Radiators R Us, they shipped me a brand new replacement for $450.00. We are still continuing our soil prep for cover crop plantings. Our cover crop is a blend created by the NRCS and fulfilled by Ernst Seed Company out of Meadville PA.
Turn your land into a producing orchard
Stop mowing grass. Start growing fruit. If you own land and want to turn it into a producing orchard, vineyard, or berry planting, we handle the site assessment and soil testing, the design, the installation with irrigation and trellising, and optional ongoing care. Berries typically begin producing in their second year, grapes in their third, and tree fruit in years three to five.