Washington, DC, Tuesday, October 20, 2026 – Yesterday, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced the Harvest Fuel Relief Program to distribute $8 billion through one-time payments to farmers. The newly announced program will be funded through the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC), though USDA provided few other details on how payments will be calculated and distributed. While the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) recognizes the need to support farmers through unprecedented challenges, this program is another stop-gap that fails to provide the long-term solutions that farmers need. 

“Since 2020, ad-hoc farm payments have exceeded $75 billion, and even more if including COVID-19 relief. The Harvest Fuel Relief Program, the latest supplemental assistance program announced this week by USDA, adds another $8 billion to that total. Yet today, countless farms nationwide remain in crisis: farm bankruptcies hit a six year high this spring and farmers are carrying heavier debt loads and are more pessimistic about their future. There’s zero doubt that farmers deserve swift federal action, but these one-time payments are a failing solution. To begin to break the cycle, farmers and rural communities need investments that build reliable and resilient domestic markets for American farmers and support input-reducing conservation practices. Now is the time to reimagine a farm safety that sustainably builds farmer resilience to market disruptions rather than incentivizing overproduction and contributing to the very problem it seeks to solve,” said Mike Lavender, NSAC Policy Director.

The program’s commodity specific payment rates for Title I commodities will be released in November, while specialty crop and other non-Title I commodity payments will be determined on an unspecified timeline. In the press release, USDA solicited data from non-Title I farmers – including specialty crop growers – on the impacts of high fuel costs on their operations to inform how those program payments should be calculated. The lack of specificity in next steps for specialty crop growers is particularly concerning.

NSAC will continue to advocate for the effective and equitable distribution of these funds as well as long-term solutions that build farm resilience and reduce the need for ad hoc spending programs in the future.

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About the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC)

The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition is a grassroots alliance that advocates for federal policy reform supporting the long-term social, economic, and environmental sustainability of agriculture, natural resources, and rural communities. Learn more and get involved at: https://sustainableagriculture.net