By Ryan McGeeney
The $12 billion promised by U.S. President Donald J. Trump in December 2025 will be in farmers’ hands no later than Feb. 28, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced earlier this month.
The payments, which are part of the Farmer Bridge Assistance program, are intended to help cover growers’ debts and expenses until funds from the Farm Safety Net Program are available in October, said Hunter Biram, extension agricultural economist for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture.
“The FBA payments come to Arkansas farmers at a time when farmers and lenders are particularly concerned with cash flow on the 2025 crop and securing a loan for the 2026 crop,” Biram said. “The intent of FBA is to ‘bridge’ farmers from the 2025 crop to the 2026 crop. With Arkansas crop farmers losing more than $1 billion in 2025, and with farm safety net payments not arriving until the end of the marketing year in October, a timely ‘bridge’ will be a difference maker for farmers trying to stay in business.”
Biram noted the success of the strategy likely depends on the FBA payments actually being delivered in February.
Source : uada.edu