Facts About the New $8 Billion Harvest Fuel Relief Program

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins recently announced USDA will make $8 billion available for one-time payments to American farmers this harvest season to provide relief during temporary market disruptions and increased input costs. Similar to the Farmer Bridge Assistance program, the Harvest Fuel Relief program will provide simple, proportional support to producers using a uniform formula to cover a portion of modeled losses during the 2026 crop year. This national loss average will be based on FSA reported planted acres, Economic Research Service cost of production estimates, and World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates yields and prices.

The $8 billion in payments provided through the Harvest Fuel Relief program are authorized under the Commodity Credit Corporation Charter Act and will be administered by the Farm Service Agency (FSA).

Commodity-specific payment rates for Title I commodities will be released in November. Payment methodology for other eligible commodities will be announced at a later date. Crop insurance linkage will not be required for participation in the Harvest Fuel Relief program; however, USDA strongly urges producers to take advantage of the enhanced risk management tools included in the Working Families Tax Cuts Act to best protect against price risk and volatility in the future.

Producers of non-Title I commodities, including specialty crop growers and fishermen, are encouraged to provide data related to increased fuel costs to [email protected] for USDA’s consideration when determining payment rates.

For more information, continue reading at usda.gov.