The Trump administration's $8 billion in diesel aid for farmers will be disbursed after the November 3 election, an administration official said on Friday.
President Donald Trump announced the aid at a rally in Kansas on Monday as part of a suite of costly and politically fraught actions to offer Americans relief from high fuel prices driven up by the war in Iran.
US Department of Agriculture official Richard Fordyce told Reuters the exact timing of payments is still to be determined.
"It’s going to be close to the end of the year, would be my guess," Fordyce said. "That is a little unclear at this point."
Farmers have been hard hit this harvest season by record-high diesel prices needed to run their combines, tractors and other equipment. The USDA's
Economic Research Service has projected that they will spend nearly $5 billion more on fuel than last year.
Fordyce said payments will be determined using data about farmers' average fuel consumption, but that the agency feels confident in its $8 billion figure.
"We’ve still got a lot of work ahead of us to be really dialed in on a specific number. We believe that the $8 billion is close," he said.
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