USDA sets payment rates per acre for $12 billion ‘Farmer Bridge Assistance Program’
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has announced the per-acre payment rates in the $12 billion Farmer Bridge Assistance Program.
The money comes at a time for a reeling agricultural sector that is seeing higher costs from tariffs and inflation, and shrinking markets for their crops, especially from a trade war with China.
“These one-time payments give farmers the bridge to continue to feed and clothe America and the world while the Trump Administration continues opening new markets and strengthening the farm safety net,” U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins said on Dec. 31. “USDA is making this process as simple and seamless as possible so producers can focus on what they do best – feeding and fueling our nation.”
The funding includes $11 billion in one-time payments.
These are payment rates per acre for the FBA eligible commodities:
- Barley: $20.51
- Canola: $23.57
- Chickpeas (Large): $26.46
- Chickpeas (Small): $33.36
- Corn: $44.36
- Cotton: $117.35
- Flax: $8.05
- Lentils: $23.98
- Mustard: $23.21
- Oats: $81.75
- Peanuts: $55.65
- Peas: $19.60
- Rice: $132.89
- Safflower: $24.86
- Sesame: $13.68
- Sorghum: $48.11
- Soybeans: $30.88
- Sunflower: $17.32
- Wheat: $39.35
The remaining $1 billion of the $12 billion in assistance is reserved for specialty crops and sugar. Timelines for payments to producers of these crops are still under development and require additional understanding of market impacts and economic needs, the USDA said.
In Orleans County, the top crops in acres include 39,354 in corn for grain, 24,739 in soybeans for beans, 14,208 for vegetables, 11,590 in forage (hay/haylage), and 6,953 acres of apples, according to the county’s 20122 census of agriculture.
That census reported there are 444 farms in Orleans County that generated a market value of $223.6 in farm products in 2022. The $233.6 million in Orleans ranked 15th highest out of the 62 counties in the state.
