What Might 2026 Reference Prices Look Like
We provide a table of estimated 2026 reference prices based on the House and Senate Ag Proposals
The text of the House Ag Farm Bill proposal was released last year proposing increases to the statutory reference prices. Plus, the Republicans on the Senate Ag Committee also released some beneficial proposals related to reference prices.
The reference prices are statutory, however, the actual reference prices to be used each year is based on the effective reference prices (ERP).
Under the current rules, these effective reference prices can increase above the statutory reference price by up to 15%. However, they can’t drop below that price.
The calculation is based upon the Olympic average price of each commodity multiplied by 85%. If that number is greater than the reference but less than 115% of the reference price, then that becomes the new effective reference price for that crop year.
The Republican Senate Ag proposal would increase the limit from 115% to 120% and use 88% instead of 85% in calculating the effective reference price.
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