By Clint Thompson
The enrollment period for the Farmer Bridge Assistance Program is currently underway. Georgia cotton growers are encouraged and reminded to submit their completed applications before the April 17 deadline.
Payment rates for cotton are $117.35 per acre.
Taylor Sills, executive director of the Georgia Cotton Commission (GCC), talked about the program and its importance for his state’s growers.
“Farmer Bridge Assistance was initially announced back in the first of December and then they came out with a per-acre commodity specific rate. This whole effort was a major undertaking by all of your main commodity groups; going to the White House and USDA to discuss these figures,” Sills said. “We’re excited that the signup has started, and it seems to be fairly straightforward. Producers need to go to their local FSA service centers, county offices, basically confirming their certified acres for 2025 crop year. Within a couple of days that payment shows up.
“Farmers, a lot of them are in the process, if they haven’t already, getting refinanced for the 2026 crop year. This is going to be an important part of them getting that financed to go again for 2026.”
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farm Service Agency is providing $11 billion through one-time bridge payments to American farmers. The assistance is designed to provide producers with a bridge until the benefits of the One Big Beautiful Act are made available. The bridge payments are authorized under the Commodity Credit Corporation Charter Act.
Producers who have a secure Login.gov account can access and submit their pre-filled application online as well as track their application and payment status.
In addition to applying online, producers can also request their pre-filled FBA application from their FSA county offices. Completed FBA applications can be returned to FSA county offices by one of the following methods:
- In-person
- Electronically using Box and One-span
- Fax
“Many county offices want people to make appointments, but folks need to bear with them. They’ve undergone a lot of changes and have less staff than they had a year ago. I think that’s partially why you hear that there’s so much emphasis on producers having online logins with USDA, and I would encourage anyone interested in that to check it out. I think in situations like this, it’ll save you a trip to town. More and more producers are doing a lot of their USDA business online,” Sills said.
Source: USDA Farm Service Agency