Producers could expect an announcement in early December
The beginning of December could include details about the Trump administration’s support package for producers.
President Trump planned in October to use about $14 billion of tariff revenue to help farmers.
The government shutdown delayed any funding announcements.
But with the shutdown over, the path is cleared for USDA to distribute the money.
“We’ve been able to really analyze, build our formulas around what is happening,” Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins told Bloomberg. “We’re obviously in a different place than we were a couple of months ago. Having said that, we expect to release and announce that the first week of December.”
That different place includes recent trade commitments.
Within the last month, the U.S. has made progress on or signed trade deals with countries like Argentina, Pakistan, Switzerland Japan, and China – all of which include American ag.
These will factor into the overall support level for U.S. farmers.
“USDA now needs to take into account the effect that those commodity purchases will have on the market as we see going into 2026,” Stephen Vaden, the deputy secretary of agriculture, told reporters on Nov. 17, adding that under secretary Richard Fordyce’s team is going through the figures.
Farmers would rather be in a position where the payments weren’t necessary.
But if the government’s actions created the challenges, the government should work to provide support.
“I think part of the problem we’re facing is brought on by the government,” Vernon Flinn, an Iowa farmer, told the Iowa Capital Dispatch on Nov. 4. “So I think the government’s got an obligation to help, maybe, bail guys out of it. I mean, with prices we’re facing today, with expenses if we’re looking out for planting a crop … yeah, there’s going to have to be help.”