These bridge payments are intended in part to aid farmers until historic investments from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), including reference prices that are set to increase between 10-21 per cent for major covered commodities and will reach eligible farmers on October 1, 2026.
Of the $12 billion provided, up to $11 billion will be used for the Farmer Bridge Assistance (FBA) Programme, which provides broad relief to United States row crop farmers who produce barley, chickpeas, corn, cotton, lentils, oats, peanuts, peas, rice, sorghum, soybeans, wheat, canola, crambe, flax, mustard, rapeseed, safflower, sesame and sunflower.
FBA will help address market disruptions, elevated input costs, persistent inflation and market losses from foreign competitors engaging in unfair trade practices that impede exports, an USDA release said.
Farmers who qualify for the FBA Programme can expect payments to be released by February 28, 2026.
Crop insurance linkage will not be required for the FBA Programme; however, USDA urged 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 Programme like specialty crops.
The $12 billion in farmer bridge payments, including those provided through the FBA Programme, are authorised under the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) Charter Act and will be administered by the Farm Service Agency (FSA).
ALCHEMPro News Desk (DS)
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