With research estimating that American farmers could lose $44 billion this year — due to a complex mix of low crop prices, high equipment and crop input costs, and the ripple of a prolonged trade war — the recent $12 billion “bridge” payment is the only aid producers should expect to receive.
Richard Fordyce, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s under secretary for farm production and conservation, recently said that his agency is not considering any further aid, even as the economic conditions that triggered the initial round of payments continue.
“At this point, we feel like we’ve kind of done what we can do. I don’t know what next year will bring, but at this point, we’re where we’re going to be,” he said, according to Reuters.
The USDA is aiming to announce payment rates soon, particularly as it balances timing with updated market data. Most of the $12 billion will be directed toward corn, cotton, peanuts, rice, wheat, and soybeans, which generally represent the most-produced products in the U.S., with about $1 billion of the aid being set aside for other types of crops.
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Fordyce told Southeast AgNet Radio Network that the hope is to release the payment rate during the last week of December. Ag Secretary Brooke Rollins has noted that the actual payments will go out by Feb. 28.
Acreage will play a critical role in determining payment amounts. Payments will be based on what producers actually planted and reported to FSA.
“And then we’re going to use 2025 planted acres as it pertains to your FSA acreage report,” he told Southeast AgNet. “And those are the acres that we’ll use. So you’ll have a payment rate by crop per acre times the acres that you planted in 2025.”
Fordyce admitted that the USDA is aware the aid will fall short of covering expenses for farmers, but added that funding limitations are hamstringing further aid efforts. The Trump administration has previously said the aid should serve as a stopgap until new farm supports from Trump’s tax and spending bill take effect, like higher reference prices for crops.
