Trump Announces $8 Billion Farm Aid Program

President Donald Trump announced an $8 billion farm-aid program at a campaign rally in Kansas on October 19, describing it as support to offset diesel costs during harvest. The U.S. Department of Agriculture said the one-time payments will instead be calculated mainly from modeled losses for the 2026 crop year, rather than individual farmers’ fuel bills. USDA said the program, called the Harvest Fuel Relief Program, will provide proportional support covering part of producers’ modeled losses. For most eligible farmers, the formula will use planted acres, production-cost estimates, and yield and price forecasts. The payments will be administered by the Farm Service Agency, with funding authorized through the Commodity Credit Corporation. The agency’s formula means the program is not generally tied directly to how much diesel a farmer buys, despite Trump’s description of the aid as help with fuel costs. USDA said specialty-crop growers and fishermen fall outside the main formula and are to provide fuel-cost data for consideration when their payment rates are set. The total announced funding is $8 billion, but individual payment amounts have not been specified. USDA said rates...