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The U.S. Department of Agriculture will make $12 billion available in one time bridge payments to American farmers in response to temporary trade market disruptions and increased production costs.
These bridge payments are intended in part to aid farmers until historic investments from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, including reference prices which are set to increase between 10-21% for major covered commodities such as soybeans, corn, and wheat and will reach eligible farmers on October 1, 2026.
Farmers who qualify for the FBA Program can expect payments to be released by February 28, 2026.
Eligible farmers should ensure their 2025 acreage reporting is factual and accurate by 5pm ET on December 19, 2025.
Commodity-specific payment rates will be released by the end of the month. Crop insurance linkage will not be required for the FBA Program; however, USDA strongly urges producers to take advantage of the new OBBBA risk management tools to best protect against price risk and volatility in the future.
The remaining $1 billion of the $12 billion in bridge payments will be reserved for commodities not covered in the FBA Program such as specialty crops and sugar, for example, though details including timelines for those payments are still under development and require additional understanding of market impacts and economic needs.
The $12 billion in farmer bridge payments, including those provided through the FBA Program, are authorized under the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) Charter Act and will be administered by the Farm Service Agency.
To submit questions, justification for USDA farmer bridge aid, or to request a meeting on farmer bridge aid, producers can reach out to farmerbridge@usda.gov.
Source: USDA
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