USDA launches $8 billion harvest fuel relief program for farmers

The Agriculture Department will pay farmers $8 billion under a new Harvest Fuel Relief program to offset diesel costs this harvest season, President Trump and Secretary Brooke Rollins announced on Monday.

Why it matters: The payments, funded through the Commodity Credit Corporation and modelled on the earlier Farmer Bridge Assistance program, put federal money directly against the diesel bill that record fuel prices have imposed on the 2026 harvest.

Data as of USDA press release dated October 19, 2026, read in full via Ohio Country Journal's reproduction of the release; Reuters reported the announcement from President Trump's campaign speech in Kansas the same evening. Payment rates for Title I commodities are due in November; application timing has not yet been published. Developing item.

The Agriculture Department will launch a Harvest Fuel Relief program paying farmers $8 billion to offset diesel costs during this harvest season, President Trump announced in a campaign speech in Kansas on Monday, with Secretary Brooke Rollins unveiling the program alongside him. The money is authorised under the Commodity Credit Corporation Charter Act and will be run by the Farm Service Agency, modelled on the earlier Farmer Bridge Assistance program: a uniform formula pays a portion of modelled losses for the 2026 crop year, calculated from FSA reported planted acres, Economic Research Service cost of production data and WASDE yield and price estimates. Commodity specific payment rates for Title I crops are due in November, crop insurance linkage is not a condition of payment, and producers of other crops, including specialty crops and commercial fishermen, are being asked to send their fuel cost data to the department.

USDA launches $8 billion harvest fuel relief program for farmers

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