Farmers across the United States will soon see significant financial assistance following the Trump administration’s announcement of a $12 billion one-time bridge payment delivered through USDA’s Farm Service Agency. According to the administration, these funds are being provided in response to “temporary trade market disruptions and increased production costs.”
The temporary support is designed to help producers navigate current economic pressures until new elements of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act—including reference price increases on covered commodities—become available to eligible farmers on October 1, 2026. This bridge payment is intended to fill the gap and stabilize operations during the transition period.
Of the $12 billion total, $11 billion will be directed toward the Farmer Bridge Assistance (FBA) Program, which provides support to row crop farmers growing commodities such as corn, cotton, peanuts, sorghum, soybeans, and others. The remaining $1 billion is reserved for commodities not included in the FBA program, including specialty crops and sugar.
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins emphasized the urgency and intent behind this initiative. She stated, “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. 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 plan we are announcing today ensures American farmers can continue to plan for the next crop year. It is imperative we do what it takes to help our farmers, because if we cannot feed ourselves, we will no longer have a country. With this program serving as a bridge to the improvements President Trump and Republicans in Congress have made, it will allow farmers to leverage strengthened price protection risk management tools and the reliability of fair trade deals so they do not have to depend on large ad hoc assistance packages from the government.”
This bridge payment represents a major effort to stabilize the farm economy, strengthen producer confidence, and ensure that growers have the resources necessary to prepare for the upcoming crop year.
Audio Reporting by Dale Sandlin for Southeast AgNet.