House Agriculture Committee Chair Glenn “GT” Thompson expects the Trump administration’s forthcoming aid for struggling farmers will primarily address the slumping ag commodities prices, not just export losses from retaliatory tariffs.
“It’s a combination of not just tariffs, but just a really challenging farm economy,” Thompson told Agri-Pulse on Thursday. “Inflation has come down, but it’s still above average.”
On whether the administration is likely to consider current commodity prices or those from a month or more ago in calculating a payment formula, the Pennsylvania Republican said he’s “pretty confident it will reflect what people are going through right now.”
The Market Facilitation Program payments provided to farmers during the first Trump administration were largely calculated to compensate producers for the impact of export losses.
Representative Dusty Johnson, R-SD, said he’s still being briefed on how the farmer payments will be calculated. “What I want to do is make sure that the overall package is sufficient and fair,” he said.
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said that the administration will make an announcement very soon on further payments to farmers suffering from export losses.
Rollins has been insisting that the administration would unveil a package to support farmers affected by tariff retaliation and trade losses after the government reopened following the recent shutdown. The administration has also moved more than $10 billion from a fund previously used to fund tariff assistance to the secretary’s office.
A recent analysis by the American Farm Bureau Federation found that five of seven major crops are set to see larger average losses this year. The biggest losses were projected for cotton and rice at $370 and $364 per acre, respectively.
Additionally, the sign-up period is now underway for farmers interested in participating in the USDA Supplemental Disaster Relief Program (SDRP).
Participation in Stage 2 of the SDRP is now open to those farmers who experienced crop, tree, bush, or vine losses in 2023 and 2024 due to qualifying natural disasters that were not covered under Stage 1. This includes non-indemnified, uncovered, or quality losses from events like wildfires, floods, excessive heat, and drought, USDA says.
The agency adds that the sign up for Stage 1 participation is still open for those farmers with indemnified losses.
Both stages have a deadline of April 30, 2026, to apply.
USDA has allocated a total of $16 billion for SDRP. To date, the agency says only $5.7 billion has been distributed to more than 381,000 farmers under Stage 1 of the program, leaving $10.3 billion of aid still available to qualifying producers.
EDITOR’S TAKE:
The overall potential payouts of the various USDA programs will add billions to the ag economy. Payments will allow farmers and ranchers to pay down operating loans and strengthen their P&L statement. All together the payouts will be a real boost, especially to crop producers who have had a challenging year.
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