WASHINGTON (AVC News) — The U.S. Department of Agriculture will make $8 billion available in one-time payments to American farmers through a new program designed to provide financial relief during the 2026 harvest season.
President Donald Trump and U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins announced the Harvest Fuel Relief program Oct. 19. The program aims to help farmers manage temporary market disruptions and increased input costs.
The program will provide proportional payments to eligible producers to cover a portion of modeled losses during the 2026 crop year. The payment formula will use planted acreage reported to the Farm Service Agency, production cost estimates from the USDA’s Economic Research Service, and yield and price estimates from the World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates.
The $8 billion in payments is authorized under the Commodity Credit Corporation Charter Act and will be administered by the Farm Service Agency.
Payment rates for commodities covered under Title I of the farm bill are expected to be released in November. Payment methods for other eligible commodities will be announced later.
Crop insurance will not be required to participate. However, the USDA encouraged producers to consider risk management tools available through the Working Families Tax Cuts Act to help protect against future price risks and market volatility.
Producers of commodities not covered under Title I, including specialty crop growers and fishermen, are encouraged to submit information about increased fuel costs to HarvestFuel@usda.gov for consideration when payment rates are determined.
Eligible producers are encouraged to create a Login.gov account before the application period is announced. The USDA said prefilled applications will be available online for producers who link their Login.gov accounts to the department.
The program follows other federal assistance for farmers. Earlier this year, the Farmer Bridge Assistance program provided $12 billion in one-time payments to more than 560,000 farmers nationwide.
The administration also said nearly $14 billion in gross payments were recently provided through the Agriculture Risk Coverage and Price Loss Coverage programs under the Working Families Tax Cuts Act, an increase of approximately $8 billion over the amount farmers would have received without the legislation.
More information about the Harvest Fuel Relief program and other federal farm assistance is available at https://www.usda.gov/farmers-first.
Last Updated on October 20, 2026 by AVC News
