The Trump Administration and Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins announced plans this week for the Harvest Fuel Relief (HFR) program that will offer one-time payments to American farmers to offset fuel costs during the 2026 harvest season.
The $8 billion program will act similarly to the Farmer Bridge Assistance (FBA) program and will release commodity-specific payment rates in November. The program comes at an opportune time, according to Taylor Sills, executive director of the Georgia Cotton Commission (GCC).
“(Monday) night in Kansas, President Trump announced this $8 billion harvest fuel relief,” Sills said. “Southern cotton growers went to Washington D.C. back in September. The main things that they talked about was this increase in fuel and how it’s affecting producers right here at harvest. Farmers don’t have a choice. They can’t cut fuel costs at harvest as you know. This program is well timed from USDA (U.S. Department of Agriculture).”
According to AAA, diesel prices for Georgia for Oct. 21 was $5.74 per gallon, down from $6.34 a month ago but still up substantially from $3.47 a year ago.
“I mean, we’ve gotten a lot of calls and concerns about what it’s going to take to fill that cotton picker, how much daily costs the producer will have in fuel alone,” Sills said. “Like i said, this program is well timed. Hopefully, they can get it administered and out the door to folks that really it.”