President Trump said his administration would provide $8 billion in aid to farmers hit by record diesel prices.
“Tonight, I am also pleased to announce that the Department of Agriculture will launch a new fuel crop assistance program, providing our farmers with $8 billion in support to offset diesel costs this harvest season,” Mr. Trump said at a rally in Kansas Monday evening.
“When the Republicans win, we will provide even more funding to our farmers. We love our farmers,” he added.
Earlier this month, Mr. Trump also signed an executive order to ease limits on tax-free use of red-tinted diesela measure aimed at reducing costs for farmers and truckers. This happened after a $12 billion aid package for farmers announced by the Trump administration in December.
Farmers were confronted financial pressures of the soaring prices of diesel, used to run agricultural machinery. Diesel hit a record $6.53 per gallon on Sept. 22, although it has fallen slightly since then, with average U.S. prices now at $6.32 per gallon, down from $3.62 a year ago, according to AAA data.
“This $8 billion investment will help provide certainty to our farmers during this harvest so they can continue to feed our country,” U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said in a statement.
The USDA said the plan, called the Harvest Fuel Relief Program, will pay farmers to cover a portion of their estimated losses for the 2026 crop year, using a standard formula. The calculation will use planted acreage reported to the Farm Service Agency, estimated production costs, crop yields and prices from the USDA’s World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates report.
The agency said it would announce payment rates for key commodity crops in November, with details for other eligible commodities to follow. Farmers will not need crop insurance to qualify and can prepare to apply by creating a USDA-linked Login.gov account.
The USDA estimates that net farm income will decrease by 2.6% this year while production costs will increase by 4.5%. Spending on fuel and oil alone is expected to increase by nearly 30%, according to the agency’s September forecast.
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