FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Laura Zaks

Associate Director of Communications and Development

National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition

press@sustainableagriculture.net, 347.563.6408

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Contact: Jessica Manly

Communications and Digital Advocacy Director

National Young Farmers Coalition

press@youngfarmers.org, 518-643-3564 x 722

Joint Release: Fleeting Relief for Some Farmers, But ‘Bridge’ Payments Lack Long-Term Solutions

Washington, DC, December 9, 2025 – Yesterday, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced limited details of the Farmer Bridge Assistance (FBA) Program, which will make $12 billion available in one-time payments predominantly for row crop farmers. The announcement comes at the conclusion of a tumultuous 2025, during which rising production costs, low crop prices, diminished market access, and unprecedented instability in federal partnership converged to push many farmers to the brink. 

“By nearly any measure, 2025 has presented American farmers with a set of unprecedented challenges. The Farmer Bridge Assistance Program provides some initial relief, but is insufficient on its own. It effectively excludes most specialty crop growers and does little to prevent the loss of farms or farmland due to acute financial hardship. Congress must act quickly to keep farmers on the land – offering loan support and cash-flow assistance, increasing market access, and investing in input-reducing conservation practices – coupled with a commitment to overhauling the safety net and building out financial resilience,” said Mike Lavender, NSAC Policy Director.

The Farmer Bridge Assistance Program will direct over 92% of payments to a handful of commodities, including corn, cotton, peanuts, rice, wheat, and soybeans. Roughly $1 billion will be reserved for other crops, including specialty crops, though a timeline for those payments is not yet available. USDA reportedly confirmed that FBA eligibility will be limited to those individuals or legal entities with an adjusted gross income below $900,000, and payments will be capped at $155,000 per recipient.

“Farmers know how to roll with the punches and navigate the unexpected, from weather impacts to pest and disease pressures and shifts in market access, whether local or international. At the same time, farmers expect a certain level of confidence in how our public agriculture systems are governed and maintained. The layered and persistent uncertainty of 2025 is pushing many farmers to the limits of what their operations can withstand. The collective government response to these conditions needs to be robust, multi-faceted, and appropriately targeted. This means that the payments announced this week must be followed by additional and expedient efforts to keep farmers on the land and to improve the farm safety net, leaving annual bailouts as cautionary historical context rather than ongoing policy,” said David Howard, Young Farmers Policy Development Director 

Producers will not be required to enroll in crop insurance to be eligible for FBA payments. While income limits and payment caps have been clarified in press reports, it is unclear whether ‘actively engaged farming’ requirements will be applied to eligible recipients. USDA will use a national loss average to calculate payments, which is unlikely to adequately account for geographic differences in the market conditions that producers face. 

The program will be rolled out on an incredibly tight timeframe – USDA has set a deadline of December 19 for farmers to ensure their 2025 acreage reporting numbers are accurate. Commodity specific payment calculations are to be completed and announced by the end of December, with checks flowing to producers by February 28, 2026. This short timeline is warranted, but may prove difficult amidst USDA staff shortages – the Farm Service Agency has lost 1,200 staff since January 2025. Under these circumstances, it is critical for USDA to ensure accurate and equitable program delivery – and to avoid the “significant improper payments” that have plagued previous assistance programs.

Looking beyond this current effort, the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition and the National Young Farmers Coalition strongly urge USDA and Congress to come together and work on additional solutions to repair and expand the farm safety net to all farmers. As Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins stated in yesterday’s announcement, “It is imperative we do what it takes to help our farmers, because if we cannot feed ourselves, we will no longer have a country”. We must ensure that across the country, people producing the food we eat have adequate certainty to plan the future of their agricultural operations and provide a reasonable quality of life for their families.

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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: https://sustainableagriculture.net/

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The National Young Farmers Coalition (Young Farmers) is a national grassroots network of young farmers changing policy and shifting power to equitably resource the new generation of working farmers. Visit Young Farmers on the web at youngfarmers.org.