(Washington, DC) — On Monday, President Donald Trump announced a long rumored aid package for U.S. farmers totaling $12 billion.
“This relief will provide much needed certainty to farmers as they get this year’s harvest to market and look ahead to next year’s crops, and it’ll help them continue their efforts to lower food prices for American families,” according to President Trump. “Farmers are an indispensable national asset, part of the backbone of America. I’ve always felt it so strongly. They’re so important.”
During a round table at the White House on Monday afternoon, President Trump insisted the money was not in response to farmers being hit hard by his tariff policies, but rather due to the Biden administration’s bad policies. “Unfortunately, under sleepy Joe Biden, he’s a sleepy guy. Our farmers were crushed by the worst inflation in modern history and crippling restrictions on energy, water, and countless other necessities for farmers,” according to President Trump.
President Trump also acknowledged that U.S. farmers don’t want aid, but rather, a level playing field to sell their crops. “You know, the interesting thing about the farmer, they don’t want aid, they want to just have a level playing field,” according to President Trump. “I’ve seen that more with farmers than anybody else, any other industry, right? We’ve seen it more with farmers where I’ve had meetings like this, primarily in the first term. And we did a great job, we turned it around. This is going to be the golden age. But the farmers don’t want aid, they want to have a level playing field. Because if they have a level playing field, they’ll do better than anybody else. They’re better than anybody else. Our product is incredible.”
Of the $12 billion provided, up to $11 billion will be used for the Farmer Bridge Assistance (FBA) Program according to USDA, which provides broad relief to United States row crop farmers who produce Barley, Chickpeas, Corn, Cotton, Lentils, Oats, Peanuts, Peas, Rice, Sorghum, Soybeans, Wheat, Canola, Crambe, Flax, Mustard, Rapeseed, Safflower, Sesame, and Sunflower. FBA will help address market disruptions, elevated input costs, persistent inflation, and market losses from foreign competitors engaging in unfair trade practices that impede exports.
USDA says the FBA Program will apply simple, proportional support to producers using a uniform formula to cover a portion of modeled losses during the 2025 crop year. This national loss average is based on FSA reported planted acres, Economic Research Service cost of production estimates, World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates yields and prices and economic modeling.
Farmers who qualify for the FBA Program can expect payments to be released by February 28, 2026. Eligible farmers should ensure their 2025 acreage reporting is factual and accurate by 5pm ET on December 19, 2025. Commodity-specific payment rates will be released by the end of the month. Crop insurance linkage will not be required for the FBA Program; however, USDA strongly urges producers to take advantage of the new One Big Beautiful Bill Act risk management tools to best protect against price risk and volatility in the future.
“Four years under the failed Biden Administration continues to leave the American farm economy reeling from record inflation, a depleted farm safety net, and delayed disaster assistance,” according to Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins. “The lack of new trade deals under the last Administration turned a trade surplus under Trump into a $50 billion trade deficit, causing our farmers to lose markets and feel acute pain from lower commodity prices. President Trump will not let our farmers be left behind, so he directed our team to build a bridge program to see quick relief while the President’s dozens of new trade deals and new market access take effect.”
The remaining $1 billion of the $12 billion in bridge payments will be reserved for commodities not covered in the FBA Program such as specialty crops and sugar, for example, though details including timelines for those payments are still under development and require additional understanding of market impacts and economic needs.
The $12 billion in farmer bridge payments, including those provided through the FBA Program, are authorized under the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) Charter Act and will be administered by the Farm Service Agency (FSA).
Reaction to the farm aid has been rolling in as of Monday afternoon. U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Chairman John Boozman (R-AR) applauded White House farm assistance to American producers. “America’s farm families share President Trump’s vision for increased market access,” according to Senator Boozman. “Delivering this farm assistance will bridge the gap until farmers realize the benefits of the recent trade deals and the One Big Beautiful Bill that will provide the certainty they need.”
Senator John Hoeven (R-ND) issued a statement saying that “between China targeting our producers, rising input costs and other challenges, our producers are really going through a tough stretch. That’s why we’ve been working with the Trump administration to advance agriculture assistance to serve as a bridge to the improvements we made to crop insurance, ARC and PLC in the One Big Beautiful Bill. This assistance will not only help our producers in the short-term but will ensure they aren’t used as leverage as the administration continues to negotiate for more markets and better long-term trade agreements. We appreciate President Trump, Secretary Rollins and Secretary Bessent for their work on this and will continue working to help our producers through this tough stretch.”
Senator Deb Fischer (R-NE) issued a statement saying that “Today’s farm assistance package is welcome news as we work to get the farm economy back on track. I applaud President Trump and Secretary Rollins for stepping up to ensure that America’s ag producers have the support they need to feed and fuel our world. I look forward to continuing to partner with the administration to expand trade opportunities that will create strong markets for Nebraska’s ag products.”
Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) welcomed the farm aid package but also said Congress should still be working on more long-term solutions to help the American agricultural sector complete globally while managing other economic headwinds like inflation and high input costs.
“Too many of our farmers are operating on the brink of bankruptcy. Many will not be able to satisfy their current debt and be able to secure financing for next year’s crop without a strong form of federal bridge support to get them to next year. So, this aid package could not come soon enough,” Hyde-Smith said. “The Trump administration deserves credit for moving swiftly and decisively to use the resources Congress provided in the deal to end the government shutdown to make these resources available to combat what amounts to an economic disaster for our ag sector,” the Senator added. “I encourage producers in Mississippi and their lenders to look at the details of these bridge payments to determine what’s best for their continued operation.”
Senator Hyde-Smith added “We still have important work ahead of us, and there are a lot of promising ideas for strengthening the ag sector over the long haul. I believe Congress can work on a package that includes innovative measures, like my Buying American Cotton Act, that can put our farmers on more solid footing for the future,” Hyde-Smith said.
House Committee on Agriculture Chairman Glenn “GT” Thompson (PA-15) applauded the news as well. “I commend President Trump for standing by our hardworking producers who continue to struggle with distorted global markets and record-high production costs—legacies of the Biden Administration,” according to Chairman Thompson. “The critical assistance announced today will help farmers obtain financing for 2026 and serve as a bridge to the long-term improvements to the farm safety net, which were included in the One Big Beautiful Bill. I look forward to working with President Trump and Secretary Rollins on assessing any additional needs in farm country and continuing to support America’s farmers and ranchers as the Administration works to bring down costs, secure new trade deals, and ensure China lives up to its commitments.”
To submit questions, justification for USDA farmer bridge aid, or to request a meeting on farmer bridge aid, producers can reach out to farmerbridge@usda.gov.
View farm group reaction to today’s aid announcement here: https://www.americanagnetwork.com/2025/12/08/farm-groups-react-to-aid-announcement/
