The Agriculture Department will make $8 billion available for one-time payments to farmers this harvest season under a new Harvest Fuel Relief Program, President Donald Trump announced Monday night at a campaign rally in Park City, Kansas.
"Tonight, I'm also pleased to announce that the Department of Agriculture will be launching a new harvest fuel relief program, providing our farmers with $8 billion in support to offset diesel costs during this harvest season," Trump told the crowd. He gave the credit to Sen. Roger Marshall, the Kansas Republican he had come to support, who is in a competitive reelection race against Democrat Adam Hamilton. "Roger Marshall is the leader who fought for that to happen," Trump said, according to The Hill. "Roger got it to happen."
The department said in a statement after the speech that the money would go toward one-time payments "to provide relief during temporary market disruptions and increased input costs." Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said the program will deliver "critical support to farmers facing rising costs and market disruptions."
The national average price of diesel stood at roughly $6.32 a gallon, compared with $3.63 a year earlier, according to AAA figures cited by The Hill, and farm-state Republicans had been pressing the administration to act as the war with Iran pushed fuel costs higher. Farmers had been blunt about the strain. John Boyd, founder and president of the National Black Farmers Association, had told Newsweek that his fellow farmers "just can't survive" the fuel prices on top of their other financial pressures.
Trump has tried other ways to bring the price down. Earlier this month he signed an executive order that he said would expand access to tax-exempt diesel, the red-dyed fuel typically burned in farm and construction equipment. He has turned aside calls from some Republicans for a pause in diesel exports, telling reporters earlier this month that "we were never going to do it."
The program was announced weeks before the November midterm elections, in which Republicans are defending narrow majorities in both the House and the Senate. Reuters described the announcement as the latest in a series of financial promises Trump has made to voters, and reported that his approval rating has been low because of his handling of the cost of living during the war. Earlier this month he said the government would send a one-time payment to more than 20 million Medicare enrollees. He has also proposed $5,000 checks for adult citizens if Republicans keep control of Congress, an idea that analysts, economists and some Republicans in Congress have greeted with skepticism.
Payments under the new program will be proportional, set by a uniform formula meant to cover a portion of modeled losses in the 2026 crop year, and the Farm Service Agency will administer them. According to the department's release, as quoted by Newsweek, the national loss average will rest on price and yield figures from the World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates, cost-of-production estimates from the Economic Research Service and planted acreage reported to the Farm Service Agency. The money is authorized under the Commodity Credit Corporation Charter Act, and participation will not be tied to crop insurance coverage.
Payment rates have not been published. Rates for commodities covered by Title I of the farm bill are due next month, and the method for other eligible commodities will be announced later, the release said. The department asked producers outside Title I, such as fishermen and specialty crop growers, to send in data on their rising fuel costs for use in setting their rates. It said prefilled applications will be made available and advised farmers to set up a federal online login account before the application period is announced.