Farm Bridge Assistance Package Comes At Critical Time For Farmers

MARY HIGHTOWER

LITTLE ROCK, ARKANSAS

 While commodity payment rates won’t be released until the end of December, the $12 billion Farm Bridge Assistance package announced Monday will provide funding at a critical time for farmers, an economist said.

Of the amount, $11 billion will be used for growers of 20 crops, including corn, cotton, peanuts, rice, sorghum, soybeans and wheat. The remaining $1 billion will be distributed to growers of specialty crops. Timelines for specialty crop payments were still under development and require additional understanding of market impacts and economic needs, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said.

“Secretary of Agriculture Rollins said these payments would be disbursed by Feb. 28, which is crucial given that farmers have cash flow needs now to pay 2025 loans and to renew for 2026,” Hunter Biram said on Tuesday. Biram is an extension economist for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture. “It is very important that those payments do get disbursed by the end of February.

USDA advised eligible farmers to ensure their 2025 acreage reporting is factual and accurate by 5 p.m. Eastern on Dec. 19, 2025. Commodity-specific payment rates will be released by the end of the month.

A USDA statement said the Farm Bridge Assistance program uses a uniform formula to cover a portion of 2025 crop year losses.

“This national loss average is based on Farm Service Agency reported planted acres, Economic Research Service cost of production estimates, World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates yields and prices and economic modeling,” the USDA statement adds.

Biram noted that the amount in the bridge package is about 10 percent higher than payments released earlier this year through USDA’s Emergency Commodity Assistance Program, or ECAP.

“I would not be surprised to see similarities between the Farmer Bridge Assistance and ECAP,” he said.   ∆

MARY HIGHTOWER
UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS