WASHINGTON – More than 55 agriculture organizations, led by the American Farm Bureau Federation, are urging Congress to deliver additional farm assistance amid growing financial strain in rural communities. Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman John Boozman (R-AR) and Agriculture Appropriations Committee Chairman John Hoeven (R-ND) are answering that call and advocating expanded aid in the upcoming continuing resolution.
“America’s farmers are resilient, hardworking and deeply committed to feeding and clothing our nation. Unfortunately, resilience and hard work are not enough to withstand the significant challenges that have been mounting for several years. The message is clear that while they are extremely grateful for the investments Congress, President Trump and Secretary Brooke Rollins recently delivered, they need more help to keep farming,” Boozman said. “We need to maintain a safe, affordable and reliable food supply and the only way to achieve that is to support the men and women who make that possible.”
“This assistance is all about getting our farmers through this year to fall when the improvements we were able to secure in the One Big Beautiful Bill, including expanding access to affordable crop insurance, increased reference prices, and improved livestock disaster programs, come into play. This is the additional piece we need, along with the Farmer Bridge Assistance Program recently announced by President Trump and Secretary Rollins,” said Hoeven. “This assistance will provide additional support for row crops, specialty crops, sugar beets, prevent plant, and better account for basis and cost of production concerns. We also increase farm ownership and operating loan limits so producers can access capital to help with higher costs. Our goal is to ensure that farmers and ranchers can make it through this challenging period and continue their operations now and into the future.”
The senators’ proposal would provide targeted relief to farmers by building upon the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farmer Bridge Assistance (FBA) program.
Key components include:
- Expanded coverage for the FBA program. Additional funds would cover a greater share of producer losses, allowing farmers to receive bankable and timely assistance.
- Include acres that were prevented from being planted as eligible acres under the FBA program.
- Align payment limitations with improvements included in the One Big Beautiful Bill to ensure assistance better covers the level of losses farmers are experiencing.
- Additional assistance for losses that exceed national averages. Providing separate funds for producers who were forced to sell at depressed prices or experienced higher costs of production would help further target the available assistance while allowing the FBA and expanded FBA funds to reach farmers immediately.
- Expanded support for specialty crop producers. Providing USDA the funding and flexibility to implement a program that addresses the unique challenges of specialty crops.
- Assistance for sugar beet and cane growers. Providing sugar farmers needed relief in a time of record losses in an oversupplied market.
- Increased Farm Ownership and Operating Loan limits. Increasing loan limits would improve access to credit that meets current producer demand.
The chart below illustrates the losses farmers have experienced since 2023 and demonstrates the need for further assistance.
