Overview
- About $11 billion will flow through the USDA’s new Farmer Bridge Assistance program for row-crop producers, with roughly $1 billion reserved for specialty crops.
- Officials said payments are targeted to reach farms by Feb. 28, 2026, with eligibility rules and per-acre payment rates to be released in the coming weeks.
- Trump and his aides attributed the funding to tariff revenue, positioning the plan as temporary liquidity support for producers facing weak prices and disrupted shipments.
- The administration cited a Chinese pledge to buy 12 million metric tons of U.S. soybeans by year-end, though purchases so far total only a fraction of that amount and officials now point to late February.
- Farmer groups welcomed short-term relief but pressed for restored market access, as Democrats criticized the bailout as a response to tariff-driven losses; Trump also vowed to ease environmental rules on farm machinery to lower equipment costs.