By Ryan Hanrahan
Agri-Pulse’s Philip Brasher reported that “the Trump administration is discussing some type of ‘bridge’ financial assistance to help farmers make it into 2026, says Deputy Agriculture Secretary Stephen Vaden.”
“Talking to reporters at the Farm Progress show in Decatur, Illinois, on Tuesday, Vaden provided no details of what the assistance would look like, but he noted that the department’s spending authority under the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) would typically be refreshed in November,” Brasher reported. “Congress enhanced the two main commodity programs for row crops, Price Loss Coverage and Agriculture Risk Coverage, in the budget reconciliation law enacted in July, but farmers won’t see any payments as a result of those changes until October 2026.”
“‘We’re seeing the same thing that farmers are seeing with regard to commodity prices, and we know that many of the most important pieces of the One Big Beautiful Bill don’t come into effect until 2026. So, we’ve got to get them from this growing season to the next growing season,’ Vaden said,” according to Brasher’s reporting. “He added, ‘We are seeking to develop policy solutions to bridge that … and that’s what the secretary and I are working on, and what she’s constantly talking to not only the president but other members of her cabinet about. You can rest assured that when we have those announcements to make, we’ll do it.'”
Progressive Farmer’s Chris Clayton reported that “the Trump administration in 2018-19 tapped the CCC for more than $23 billion for commodity producers primarily to support declines in crop prices due to the trade war with China. It’s possible a similar scenario could come into play, though Vaden didn’t specifically spell that out in his comments.”
“Vaden pointed out USDA has paid more than $8 billion in Emergency Commodity Assistance Program (ECAP) aid payments for 2024 crop losses and another $4 billion in the Supplemental Disaster Relief Program for at least some of the crop and livestock losses in 2023 and 2024,” Clayton reported. “Vaden noted there should be some future announcements in September for farmers to file other disaster claims for 2023 and 2024 crop losses that were not covered by crop insurance.”
Source : illinois.edu