Agriculture Aid Package Could Be Coming Next Week

Farmers who have been waiting for months for federal help as they are overwhelmed with input costs, borrowing rates, tariff fallout, and low commodity prices may learn some news in the coming weeks.

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins said on Tuesday that a “bridge payment” could arrive next week. Regardless of how it is publicly stated, the commitment would be a tacet acknowledgment that many farmers are not getting immediate benefit from President Donald Trump’s trade war 2.0.

During President Trump’s first term in office, he also provided an economic package for farmers who suffered as he levied higher tariffs against some foreign producers. Farmers Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Texas were among the states most impacted by the aid in 2018 and 2019.

Soybeans, corn, cotton, and dairy were the primary industries that received the $28 billion in taxpayer assistance to offset some of their losses from President Trump’s trade policy changes.

Row crop producers are again suffering in 2025 following President Trump’s return to the White House, although, they have been struggling economically for the past few years.

"We do have a bridge payment. We'll be announcing with you next week," Secretary Rollins said to President Trump during a cabinet meeting.

Reuters, citing data from the USDA, said that taxpayers will provide more than $40 billion on payments to farmers this year. That would represent the second-highest amount since 1933. It underscores the dire economic state that some farmers find themselves as this year comes to a close, and they must make challenging decisions about whether they have the resources to continue their operations next year.

The funds could come from the Commodity Credit Corporation, although some members of Congress have said that they don’t yet know how much money would be involved. Amounts ranging from $10-14 billion have been discussed publicly.

U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley, a Republican from Iowa, said that Congress would likely need to appropriate additional money for the effort since the USDA may not have the current discretionary funds on its own.

Purdue/CME Group Ag Economy Barometer: Farmers Feeling More Optimistic

Despite the struggles of many American farmers, they are feeling better about what is ahead, according to the Purdue/CME Group Ag Economy Barometer’s November results. 

Here are the areas where the survey cited increased optimism:

• Strengthening crop prices

• Agricultural exports

• Farmland Values

• Future USDA supplemental income support

Farmers Less Optimistic About Trade Policies

However, the survey found that uncertainty has grown with tariff policies, something on which American Farmland Owner has reported extensively since the beginning of the year. Farmers can be optimistic by nature as they must frequently overcome weather and other uncontrolled challenges with the hope that next year may prove more fruitful.

But trade policies, another factor that they can’t individually control, can be especially stressful. When China stopped buying soybeans altogether, it forced an oversupply in the United States. Domestic consumption, at least in its current form, can’t absorb that additional built-up supply. Farmers became dependent on new overseas buyers, which can prove difficult.

China has slowly resume soybean purchases from the United States. But it is not at the previous levels before President Trump changed the country’s trade policies.

The Purdue/CME Group Ag Economy Barometer’s November results also showed an increasing number of respondents feel like the U.S. is headed in the wrong direction. That mirrors increasing concerns from Americans overall who have also expressed doubts that the changes so far in 2025 are taking the country forward in a positive way.

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