WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced Monday that $12 billion in one-time bridge payments will be made available to American farmers to address temporary market disruptions, elevated production costs, and other economic pressures still affecting producers.
According to the USDA, the payment package includes up to $11 billion for the Farmer Bridge Assistance (FBA) Program, which will provide proportional support to row-crop producers of barley, corn, cotton, lentils, oats, peanuts, peas, rice, sorghum, soybeans, wheat and several oilseed crops. Officials said the payments are designed to offset modeled losses from the 2025 crop year and are based on acreage reports, cost-of-production estimates, yield projections, and market data. Eligible producers are expected to receive payments by Feb. 28, 2026, and must ensure their 2025 acreage reporting is accurate by Dec. 19, 2025. Commodity-specific rates will be announced later this month.
The remaining $1 billion will support commodities not included in the FBA Program, such as specialty crops and sugar. USDA said details for those allocations are still being developed. All payments will be administered through the Commodity Credit Corporation and Farm Service Agency.
USDA leaders said the bridge payments are intended to provide short-term relief ahead of new price-support increases included in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), which will take effect on Oct. 1, 2026. Those increases raise statutory reference prices by 10–21% for major covered commodities and expand eligibility for Agriculture Risk Coverage and Price Loss Coverage programs beginning in 2026.
The agency also highlighted other measures undertaken in 2025, including more than $30 billion in ad hoc assistance distributed through various programs addressing economic hardships, natural disasters, and specialty crop challenges. Additional actions referenced include expanded crop insurance support for beginning farmers, updated marketing loan rates starting in 2026, significant conservation funding over the next decade, and new trade-promotion resources.
USDA noted recent federal actions addressing competition concerns, including a September memorandum with the Department of Justice to scrutinize agricultural input costs and a December executive order targeting price-fixing and anti-competitive behavior in sectors such as seed, fertilizer, and farm equipment. The agency also pointed to labor-cost changes tied to revisions in H-2A wage rules and updates to temporary agricultural worker petition processes.
The department additionally listed several Section 32 commodity purchases made in 2025 to support fruit, vegetable, seafood, and tree-nut producers, along with biofuel policy decisions and a series of recent trade agreements aimed at increasing market access for U.S. agricultural goods.
Questions or meeting requests related to the bridge aid program may be submitted to farmerbridge@usda.gov.
