President Donald Trump will unveil an assistance package for farmers worth $12 billion this afternoon, a White House official tells Agri-Pulse.
The Agriculture Department will stand up a Farmer Bridge Assistance program to help farmers weather low crop prices and tariff retaliation, Bloomberg first reported and the official confirmed. The program will distribute up to $11 billion in one-time payments, with the remaining $1 billion going to commodities not covered by the new program.
The president is set to announce the assistance at a roundtable this afternoon with U.S. farmers, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. Senate Agriculture Committee Chair John Boozman, R-Ark., will also attend.
Lawmakers told Agri-Pulse last week that they expect that payments to farmers will reflect both endured export losses and slumping commodity prices.
Farm groups have been pressing the administration for help amid mounting losses across key commodities, cratering exports to China and mounting challenges accessing new capital.
“Economic aid is urgently needed in the countryside,” Vice President of Public Policy and Chief Economist for the American Farm Bureau Federation John Newton wrote in an analysis published last month.
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Amid rising U.S.-China trade tensions, Chinese buyers held off on buying any of the current U.S. soybean crop until the end of October, causing slumping prices and storage concerns in the northern plains.
Beijing returned to purchasing U.S. soybeans following a meeting between Trump and President Xi Jinping on Oct. 31 in South Korea. The White House says China has committed to importing 12 million metric tons of U.S. soybeans by the end of the year. But the pace is still lagging last year’s buys.
Farmers will see other assistance payments next year, including Agriculture Risk Coverage and Price Loss Coverage payments. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) enacted in July also increased funding for commodity programs and crop insurance. But rural communities are already showing signs of distress, analysts say.
“Financial support to offset trade-related losses and provide bridge support until OBBBA enhancements reach farmers will bolster the farm economy and rural America as we navigate these challenging economic conditions,” Newton wrote.
Rollins has insisted that the forthcoming assistance will serve as a “bridge payment” until farmers can access additional assistance and the administration can realize its stated long-term project of ensuring that U.S. farmers can see profits without government assistance.
Chris Gibbs, a farmer in Ohio and chair of the Shelby County Ohio Democratic Party, criticized the aid package in a video posted to X Monday morning.
Gibbs called them "hush money payments to keep farmers and ranchers sedated and to keep them in line as we approach the midterm elections next year."
The payments "won't benefit farmers at all. They'll be immediately assimilated by our monopolies that control our fertilizer, seeds and crop protection supplies, magically resulting in increased costs that match the payments," he said.
"These payments will go through farmers like poop through a goose," Gibbs said.
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Steve Davies and Kim Chipman also contributed to this report.
